New UK guidance for ro-ro ferries contains fire blankets to control electric vehicle fires
UK guidance for ro-ro ferries – The UK government has released a document containing guidelines for dealing with EV on board RoRo ferries: *MGN 653 (M) Electric vehicles onboard passenger roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferries*
Among many other guidelines, it contains the advice to have specialized fire blankets on board as part of manual fire fighting.
This is something that Fire Isolator has been pushing for for more than 2 years now. Our Fire Isolator fire blanket can hold temperatures of over 1600 degrees Celsius are reusable, and ISO certified. They need to be deployed quickly after the fire has been detected though. With limited space around the cars, this takes training, something we also offer.
Contact our team to discuss Fire Isolator sales@fireisolator.com All our products are in stock right now. Or talk to one of our dealers!
MGN 653 (M) Electric vehicles onboard passenger roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferries:
3.15 To control and suppress fires in electric vehicles it may be necessary to use specialized firefighting equipment, such as foam fire extinguishers, car fire blankets, or water monitors on weather decks. Suitable fire extinguishing equipment should be readily available at/by the location or located practicably close to any access points likely to be used for firefighting.
3.16 Other methods to restrict the flame and heat spread such as specialist vehicle fire blankets or other specialist textile boundaries may be used until sufficient water quantity is available. The use of fire blankets and other specialist textile boundaries must be carefully considered due to the restricted access around vehicles on a ro-ro deck and the risks to the crew to deploy a fire blanket. These may be best suited as a precautionary measure deployed where a vehicle has been identified as being at increased fire risk. While vehicle fire blankets will contain the flame, the thermal-runaway event will continue, and this may generate vapor clouds that contain an explosive gas mix. All crew involved in firefighting activities should understand the difference between white pre-ignition vapor clouds and grey/black post-ignition smoke to determine if the battery is in pre-ignition thermal runaway or if this is a developed fire. Due to the risk of side venting of the batteries to avoid explosion crew involved in firefighting activities should maintain an appropriate distance from the vehicle while applying fire suppression mediums.
More information about UK guidance for ro-ro ferries can be found here.