There was news recently about an oil transport ship carrying tons of crude oil that ended up in smoke. The ship was burnt down to nothing but dead steel and the crew on board the ship couldn’t do anything to kill the flames. The moment they learnt about the fire, it was already headed towards the cargo holds and the moment it came in contact with the oil, there was a huge blast which paralyzed everyone. They couldn’t do anything else rather than to jump in the ocean and save their lives which seemed the best option. The intense heat of the flames caused every man to think of only about saving their lives and forget about saving the cargo.

The reason stated was a loose wire in the circuit board which started sparking furiously. The crew wasn’t aware of the sparking and they thought the light bulb which started to go on and off on its own were fused and it needed replacement. In the meanwhile the fumes of the oil which already had engulfed the ship as it was in the cargo holds for more than a day, gave it the jump start to take the form of a small flame. The fire then fed upon the woodwork nearby and soon it was strong enough to become a threat. Spreading rapidly through the area it travelled all the way to the cargo holds and soon the ship was nothing but a floating fire in the middle of the ocean.

The ship had already installed a Novec 1230 gas suppression system, but was running on empty cylinders. The task of the gas suppression system is no more than to sense fire and then act upon it by spraying it with the flame killing gas. When the alarm sounded, the crew rushed to the area but in most cases, the fire is too strong and widespread that humans alone cannot fight it. It needs to be suppressed from every angle and when human force isn’t that much; the flames escape and spread to other areas that aren’t within human reach.

Having a fire suppression system installed is the first precaution and weapon against unwanted flames. But what good is a gun without ammo? Similarly the ammo in this case is the gas which needs to be at its maximum pressure at all times. Low pressure or empty cylinders are as good as being nonexistent. When they have nothing to provide for spraying the flames, what will the system be able to do rather than to simply sound the alarm. Had the crew used an ultrasonic liquid level indicator to measure the gas inside the cylinders before leaving land, they could have got a refill and the ship and the cargo would have been saved.