Page 25: of Marine News Magazine (April 2020)

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FIREBOATS

For LNG risks, it’s Guldner’s view that “any major port should have at least one ?reboat and larger ports should have multiple boats to insure a rapid response anywhere within the port.”

Guldner was asked to comment about the expense of big ?reboats and specialized crews. In response he cited a Nation- al Fire Protection Association standard that speci?cally refer- ences ship ?res and legal consequences. Here’s NFPA’s quote: “An understanding of the dangers inherent in marine ?re- ?ghting should include an understanding of the consequences of the failure to provide a standard of training, planning, re- sponse, and action equivalent to that which a department pro- vides on the land-based portions of its response area.”

Guldner said that vessel owners’ contracts for spill response and marine ?re?ghting is indeed important for maritime and port safety. He added, though, that in certain situations a pri- vate sector response “could take three to four hours.”

A ?re on a ship in the water a mile distant from a commer- cial or industrial shoreline presents one level of risk.

A ?re on a pier where a ship is taking on LNG fuel presents far different levels of risks, a scenario that would seem to al- most forcefully reset questions about port safety and ?reboats.

These risks aren’t fading. For many, they’re just starting.

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