537 Ship Fires in the Last 5 Years, 5 Deaths... Safety Management Measures Underway

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Fire Agency announced on the 25th that it will implement safety management measures for ship fires to reduce the recently increasing number of ship fires and enable faster response.

In the past five years (2016?2020), there have been 537 ship fires, resulting in 5 deaths and 83 casualties. In the early morning of the 23rd, 19 ships docked at a port in Taean, Chungnam, caught fire, and on the same morning, 11 ships caught fire at a port about 700 meters away from the same port.

Ships have complex internal structures and handle various hazardous materials, making fire suppression and rescue operations more difficult than typical fires. Additionally, standards for firefighting equipment are set by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ laws such as the Ship Safety Act, limiting the fire department’s ability to supervise and guide.

Accordingly, the National Fire Agency decided to strengthen cooperation with related organizations such as the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to prevent ship fires and respond quickly when fires occur. First, through revisions to fishing vessel equipment standards, it plans to negotiate for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to verify the installation of mandatory ‘standalone smoke detectors’ during ship inspections.

Furthermore, the agency will improve the issue of difficulties in fire suppression caused by different connection methods between fire hoses on ships and on land by expanding the deployment of relay devices that connect international shore connection fittings installed on ships with fire hydrants installed on land.

In addition, the National Fire Agency will provide educational content such as fire prevention cases and fire response methods to related organizations including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries for use in training ship safety management officers.

Nam Hwa-young, Director of Fire Policy Bureau, stated, “We will further strengthen policy cooperation with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries for ship fire safety management,” and urged, “If a fire occurs, do not try to extinguish it alone; evacuate and report to 119.”

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