Nautilus International (union of 22 000 maritime professionals in Europe) is calling for increased resources for at-sea fire-fighting services, based on research showing that there were nearly 800 ship fires in Europe over the last ten years (2004-2014), of which a quarter occurred on passenger ships but only 6% of the total resulted in fatalities or serious injuries.
Ships pose significant fire dangers because of the difficulty of escape and the specific risks of motors and heavy equipment on board, and cargos and goods transported can be flammable or dangerous. However, ships have high levels of fire safety regulation for both materials and active fire protection. The effectiveness of these shipping fire safety standards is shown in the low number of fire casualties.
“Nautilus backs boost of at-sea fire fighting resources”, 10/8/2016