Fishing vessel, Santa Maria II, engine room fire, 105 nautical miles west-southwest, L'Esperance Rock,
Kermadec Islands, 10 December 2006
Kermadec Islands, 10 December 2006
Status
Closed
Occurrence Date
Report Publication Date
Jurisdiction
NZ
Legacy Inquiry Number
06-208
On Sunday 10 December 2006 at about 1230, the fishing vessel Santa Maria II with a skipper, 4 crew members and a Ministry of Fisheries observer on board was fishing off the Kermadec Islands in Fisheries Management Area 10 when a fire was discovered in the engine room. The skipper issued a distress message while the rest of the crew sealed the engine room and attempted to discharge fire suppressant into the engine room.
As a precautionary measure the crew launched and trailed the liferaft astern of the vessel. Four of the crew boarded the liferaft while the 2 remaining crew monitored the situation from the vessel’s afterdeck. After about an hour they thought the fire was out, so the crew in the liferaft re-boarded the vessel and the skipper donned a self-contained breathing apparatus and inspected the engine room. The fire had been extinguished, so the crew started to ventilate the space and restore electrical power.
Maritime Radio acknowledged then relayed the distress message and several vessels responded to the relayed message. The Santa Maria II, via the owner, contacted 2 other company vessels in the vicinity which responded allowing the other vessels to be stood down. The Seawin Emerald brought the Santa Maria II to Tauranga under tow.
Safety issues identified included:
• the standard of safety housekeeping on board the vessel
• the non-standard fitment of fixed fire-fighting equipment
• the standard of surveying provided by safe ship management companies
• the difficulty and confusion surrounding the regulatory certificate and seagoing limit structure
Safety recommendations were made to the Director of Maritime New Zealand to address these issues.
As a precautionary measure the crew launched and trailed the liferaft astern of the vessel. Four of the crew boarded the liferaft while the 2 remaining crew monitored the situation from the vessel’s afterdeck. After about an hour they thought the fire was out, so the crew in the liferaft re-boarded the vessel and the skipper donned a self-contained breathing apparatus and inspected the engine room. The fire had been extinguished, so the crew started to ventilate the space and restore electrical power.
Maritime Radio acknowledged then relayed the distress message and several vessels responded to the relayed message. The Santa Maria II, via the owner, contacted 2 other company vessels in the vicinity which responded allowing the other vessels to be stood down. The Seawin Emerald brought the Santa Maria II to Tauranga under tow.
Safety issues identified included:
• the standard of safety housekeeping on board the vessel
• the non-standard fitment of fixed fire-fighting equipment
• the standard of surveying provided by safe ship management companies
• the difficulty and confusion surrounding the regulatory certificate and seagoing limit structure
Safety recommendations were made to the Director of Maritime New Zealand to address these issues.
Location
105 nm W9W L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands (-32.277845,179.505615) [may be approximate]