The Nation's First '500-Ton Class Firefighting Ship' Launched

Strengthening Fire Safety of National Port Facilities

Coastal safety is expected to be strengthened by considering the characteristics of national ports, such as cargo volume and the entry and exit of large hazardous material vessels.

The Central 119 Rescue Headquarters of the National Fire Agency announced on the 18th that it has completed the basic and detailed design of a 500-ton firefighting vessel to be deployed at national ports and has begun full-scale construction. The day before, a 'firefighting vessel construction groundbreaking ceremony' was held at a shipyard in Busan Metropolitan City, attended by shipbuilding and supervision companies and the Korean Register (KR).

Although the National Fire Agency operates eight firefighting stations nationwide, there have been criticisms that the current small firefighting vessels are insufficient to respond to fires on large vessels carrying large quantities of hazardous materials. Accordingly, considering the characteristics of national ports where large container ships of over 100,000 tons frequently enter and exit, the agency has been promoting the introduction of firefighting vessels of 500 tons or more, as possessed by Singapore, Germany, and the United States, since 2017 to enable rapid and effective fire suppression on large vessels.

The firefighting vessels being constructed this time are planned to be deployed one each at Busan New Port and Ulsan Port, with a target inauguration ceremony in April 2025.

Each vessel has a total tonnage of 540 tons and a crew capacity of 30 people. It is equipped with four pumps capable of discharging a total of 160,000 liters per minute, eight water cannons, one high-speed rescue boat, an emergency treatment room, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) detection sensors, enabling it to perform complex missions such as fire suppression, rescue, emergency medical services, and chemical accident response.

Meanwhile, as this is the first 500-ton firefighting vessel introduced by the National Fire Agency, the vessel names were selected through a public contest to symbolize firefighting and visibility, named 'Firefighting 501' and 'Firefighting 502,' and the vessel colors were decided as orange and blue, representing the firefighting mobility uniform.

Kim Jong-geun, head of the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters of the National Fire Agency, stated, “With the deployment of the 500-ton firefighting vessels at national ports, we expect to proactively respond to port safety issues such as ship fires,” adding, “We hope that this firefighting safety enhancement will lead to strengthened coastal safety in logistics import and export and contribute to national industrial development.”

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