Why deleting ships is so difficult

2023-07-28 05:52:44

You are always dealing with metals that have a high thermal conductivity, hot air and smoke gases can hardly escape, the corridors are narrow and there are dangerous substances in ships. Added to this is the charge.

“It’s always tight, it’s always hot.” A freighter that started in Bremerhaven and has loaded around 3,800 cars has been on fire off the Dutch coast since Wednesday night.

Flocke said that the crews of ships have a little fire protection training. However, with the equipment available, the crew only has a chance of successfully extinguishing fires that are starting. “They quickly reach their limits.” A car transporter is particularly problematic in the event of a fire. The decks were packed tightly with vehicles. You can’t get to the source of the fire with a hose. The question of whether electric cars are involved is no longer relevant in such a case.

Ship’s hull is cooled with water

Attempts are being made to cool the ship’s hull with water from the outside in order to maintain the strength of the steel as much as possible. “One definitely wants to keep the ship in such a condition that it continues to swim relatively stably.” However, the fire could not be extinguished in this way. When unloading ships, care must be taken not to pump in too much water, as this could lead to stability problems.

According to Flocke, there are 125 firefighters and 25 doctors in Hamburg who have been specially trained for use at sea. In addition to training in ship firefighting, there is also regular helicopter exit training. There are such specialized fire brigade forces along the entire German coast from Emden via Cuxhaven to Kiel and Rostock. The operations management lies with the emergency command in Cuxhaven.