RCL, Wärtsilä, and DNV GL announce Navigator of the Seas to feature industry first fire prevention notation
Cruise operator RCL, technology group Wärtsilä, and classification society DNV GL to initiate a joint industry project to improve engine room fire prevention.
Since 2016, the partners have worked with stakeholders across the whole industry to collect data, analyse the key risks, and develop safety barriers to manage the most significant risk factors. As a result, RCL launched a program to enhance engine room fire prevention across its entire fleet and Wärtsilä offered technical solutions and procedures for the maintenance of their engines to lower fire risk. DNV GL has introduced a new class notation F(M-P), which focuses not only on the systems, but the processes and people to enhance the main safety barriers to prevent fires in machinery spaces.
The new DNV GL class notation F(M-P), which will be implemented in RCL’s new cruise vessel Navigator of the Seas, identifies key areas for preventing fires in engine rooms based on incident analysis, feedback from surveyors, and best practices from the industry. It sets in place standards and processes focussing on the prevention, detection and containment of oil leakage, the shutdown of system, as well as the prevention of ignition.
As casualty statistics indicate that many engine room fires occur when flammable liquid reaches a hot surface, the notation introduces process checks and technical measures to prevent this from occurring. There is overarching emphasis on both internal and external processes and procedures, with auditing of procedures to enable more efficient oversight. Likely areas for leakage are identified, and containment strategies for such areas offered. Control and monitoring of vibration in essential systems is an added requirement, with ongoing data collection included to show trends over time. Insulation of potentially hot surfaces is also a key issue to prevent ignition, so maintenance activities in this area are emphasised. In addition, the requirement for continuous improvement through data analytics means that owners and operators can gain ongoing benefits from the processes and systems they put in place to prevent fires.
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DNV GL enables organizations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. We provide classification, technical assurance, software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas and energy industries.
About DNV GL – Maritime
DNV GL is the world’s leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry.
