PSC Concentrated Inspection Campaign on Fire Safety

Overview

Paris and Tokyo MoUs have jointly announced a new Concentrated Inspections Campaign (CIC) that will take place from September 1st to November 30rd, 2023 with a focus on Fire Safety implementation on board ships, since high levels of deficiencies were found in recent years in this specific area. Other MoUs may also participate in the campaign which will be an additional inspection campaign to the regular PSC inspections. 

Aim of CICThe purpose of the Inspection Campaign is to determine the level of compliance with the requirements on Fire safety. Fire Safety is a key area of concern during PSC inspections. It is widely known that fire is one of the worst-case scenarios for an onboard emergency. PSC data analysis from the last five years shows that there is a lot of concern for onboard fire safety while ships have still several issues to address in this area. The PSCOs will expand their focus on the evaluation of competences of crew when performing fire drill or related emergency scenarios. 

QuestionnaireThe CIC questionnaire will be released in early August 2023. However, in accordance with released information, there will be a 10-question checklist covering the functionality of fire safety systems and related drills.See Appendix A for CIC Questionnaire. 

Actions required

Managers, manning offices, Officers and crew onboard should be prepared to address the PSC CiC successfully. Fire training manuals on board to be reviewed to be ship specific. Company’s superintendents to focus on onboard training during visits. Additional fire emergency scenarios to be conducted. 

How we may help you can provide guidance for CiC Questionnaire (Appendix A), preparing the response to questionnaire (Appendix B).

Appendix A: Inspection Questionnaire

Appendix B: Best Practice Guidance on Inspection Campaign Questionnaire

1. Are the emergency escape routes maintained in a safe condition?
Emergency escape routes should be clearly marked onboard. Where applicable rope with attached safety harness to be ready for use. No obstacles to prevent free passing through emergency escape route. Crew to be familiar with the emergency routes per compartment.

2. Are the fire doors maintained in good working condition?
Fire doors to be checked for maintenance (absence of holes/penetrations etc). Check that they closed tightly. Close prevention means to be removed (except they are part of the system eg. Magnetic doors). Fire doors blocked to open position are one of the most common detainable issues.

3. Has the fixed fire detection and fire alarm systems, been periodically tested in accordance with the requirements of the Administration?
All related alarms to be checked for functioning. Bridge/Engine room/fire station alarm panels to be tested as required for auditable alarms. Maintenance and test records to be available for demonstration. SMS / PMS to include testing procedure for fixed fire detection systems and alarms. Blocked fire or smoke detectors in ship’s compartments are very dangerous and in case PSCO spots them, the ship will be detained.

4. Are ventilation closing appliances capable of being closed?
Check all fire dampers and ventilators to work as required. Appropriate marking to be colored to show open and close position. Remove rust from dampers so they can close tightly. Means to close the ventilation to be checked as per ships maintenance / inspection System.

5. Are the means of control for power ventilation of machinery spaces operable from two grouped positions?
Check operational status of control for power ventilation of machinery spaces. Both position systems to be checked. Apart of functionality check that there are not any closing prevention means to ventilation systems.
6. Can each fire pump deliver at least the two required jets of water?
Check equipment condition for leakages. The piping system supporting fire pumps should not have any soft patches. Check fire pumps (including emergency fire pump) for pressure. When operating in low temperature areas check fire main for icing. During fire drills check the water jet availability with one hose on the bridge and one hose in the aft deck.

7. Are the means of control provided in a position outside the machinery space for stopping ventilation and oil transfer equipment operational?
Check the operational status of means stopping ventilation and oil transfer. Quick closing valves to be free from closing preventive means. Crew to be trained to activate the stopping procedure and then reset the system to open position as required. Permanent means preventive closing vales to operate usually lead to detention. Prior entering a port these items should be checked for functionality.

8. Is the room for the fixed gas fire extinguishing medium used only for this purpose?
Check access control in the fixed gas extinguishing room. Operational step by step activation guidance should be posted next to activation control panel (for local activation). All items irrelevant to fire extinguishing system to be removed from the area.

9. Are the valves used in the fire main line operational?

Check operational status of the valves. Maintenance and inspection records to be available for review. Prior entering a port these valves should be checked for functionality.

10. Where a fire drill was witnessed, was it found to be satisfactory?
Fireman outfits and related equipment to be checked in detailed and crew should be familiar in use of them. A step-by-step drill to be performed under the supervision of Safety Officer and used as training session in order explain the reason of each step of the drill. Each crew member should know the duties and actions expected from him/her during the drill but mostly during a real time event.