[Untangling Karma]⑥ Are There Separate Fire Extinguishers for Land and Sea?

Fishing boat burning in a fire. Until last year, only fire extinguishers for fishing boats were allowed to be used on fishing boats.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] 'Can land-use fire extinguishers be used on fishing vessels?' The correct answer is "They can be used now, but until last year, they could not." This raises the question, "Are there separate fire extinguishers for land and sea?"

In February, the Fishing Vessel Act's equipment standards were revised to allow fishing vessels to be equipped with and use land-use fire extinguishers. However, prior to that, the law required fishing vessels to be equipped only with fire extinguishers specifically designed for fishing vessels.

This is due to environmental concerns. To prevent pollution of the sea, only fishing vessel fire extinguishers, which are manufactured with strict chemical content standards for use in maritime fires, were allowed. Nevertheless, during inspections by relevant authorities, most fishing vessels had been equipped with and using land-use fire extinguishers.

Fire extinguishers designated for fishing vessels began to be produced and supplied belatedly starting in 2016. Before that, all fishing vessels carried land-use fire extinguishers, which fishermen found easy to purchase and were cheaper, so it was considered natural to equip them.

As a result, fishermen were not aware of the necessity of fishing vessel fire extinguishers at all, and complaints requesting approval for the use of land-use fire extinguishers during vessel inspections were constant.

In reality, fishing vessels are scattered along the coasts nationwide, but only seven companies produce fishing vessel fire extinguishers, limiting supply and sales outlets, forcing fishermen to travel to distant large cities to purchase them. Moreover, the price is expensive: 45,000 KRW for small and 110,000 KRW for large extinguishers, compared to land-use extinguishers which cost 15,000 KRW for small and 60,000 KRW for large.

To resolve these complaints from fishermen, Kim Min-ho, head of the inspection standards office at the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority, who was in charge of fishing vessel inspections, took the initiative. Kim said, "Compared to land-use extinguishers, maritime (fishing vessel) extinguishers had stricter environmental standards. However, over time, environmental standards for land-use extinguishers have also been strengthened, so we judged that the performance difference between the two types of extinguishers would have significantly decreased."

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman and the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority conducted practical tests on fire extinguishers with participation from manufacturers and experts, confirming that there is little performance difference between the two types and that land-use extinguishers can be used on fishing vessels. Based on this data, the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman requested the government to revise related regulations.

A representative from the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman said, "By distributing land-use fire extinguishers, which are affordable and easy to obtain, we can prevent fires on fishing vessels," adding, "This also alleviates the economic burden on fishermen. It is expected to save about 1.9 billion KRW based on nearshore fishing vessels."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.