Maritimo 48

Jakarta Globe |  October 10, 2012

The makers of a cutting-edge Navy missile boat that was gutted by a blaze last month have stressed that stringent safety measures were built into the design of the vessel and that a combination of external factors were to blame for the fire.
In a letter to the Jakarta Globe, John Lundin, president of Lundin Industry Invest, said the designers of the KRI Klewang recognized that its carbon-fiber hull made it more susceptible to fire than steel-hulled vessels, and took the appropriate measures to mitigate the risk.
“High fire-risk zones on the vessel — which can include engine and auxiliary machinery spaces, galley, weapon locations, etc. — are thus treated with a significant degree of fire insulation, which removes the carbon composite materials from proximity to normally hot componentry — and in the event of an outbreak, fire,” he said.
He added that fire insulation for the KRI Klewang, built at Lundin’s shipyard in Banyuwangi, East Java, complied with International Maritime Organization Safety of Life at Sea conventions and International Classification Society directives.
This includes sheathing electrical switchboards in fireproof insulation and mounting them in fireproof casings, as well as water-cooling engine exhausts.
“There are further protections specifically associated with high fire-risk areas,” Lundin said.
“The machinery spaces can be hermetically sealed once fire is detected; all ventilation shafts have shutters that can be closed and watertight doors also prevent the flow of oxygen required to fuel a fire. Furthermore, all engine rooms were equipped with substantial fire suppression systems able to be activated remotely from the engine room space.”
When the fire, whose cause Lundin said was still being investigated, broke out on Sept. 28, the boat was docked for maintenance and calibration work in preparation for sea trials.
“In this condition, all ventilation hatches for the ship and engine rooms were open and maintenance crew were on board,” Lundin said.
“The presence of personnel in the engine room prevented the full shutdown of the engine room and discharge of automatic systems that would have suppressed the fire; to do so would have resulted in loss of life, because fire suppression gases will not sustain human respiration.”
He said that although the personnel almost managed to put out the fire, “loss of electrical power following the fault meant that these personnel were exposed to difficult conditions of nil lighting and high smoke levels, which forced them from the area for fear of incapacitation.”
He added that the crew managed to evacuate safely, but “was not trained to shut down ventilation shutters and hatches, nor to initiate remotely operated onboard fire suppression systems.”
“In this condition, the fire was able to propagate throughout the interior volume of the vessel,” Lundin said.
He added that the setback should not stop efforts to keep forging ahead with the latest naval technology.
“This ship offered tactical and operational advantages to Indonesia’s Navy that are simply not achievable with traditional shipbuilding materials, benefits that cannot be ignored in the future,” he said.

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