PROBLEMS OF FIRE PROTECTION IN THE RO-RO SPACE OF ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF SHIPS DURING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE FIREPart 1 Problem areas in fire protection of cargo decks of ro-ro ships in the context of an electric vehicle fire

Abstract

The advancement of electric vehicles is linked to the increasing concern about the world’soil resources running out and the problem of global climate change. As global sea trade keepsexpanding quickly, the characteristics of ships also change, as they become bigger, carry morepassengers, and new risky goods emerge, including, for example, electric vehicles. The articlediscusses challenges of preventing fires on ro-ro ships with regard to electric car fires, which arebecoming more recognizable due to their increasing prevalence and consists of two parts. Part 1covers some key challenges of fire safety on the cargo decks of ro-ro ships when an electric carcatches fire and the main aspects of fire safety regulations for seagoing roll-on/roll-off ships inthe ro-ro space. Problematic areas were considered in the following aspects: features of maritimetransport, specifics of cargo carriage on a ro-ro vessel, the difficulty of evacuating sailors andpassengers from a burning ship, specifics of firefighting on a ship, challenges and dangers ofelectric vehicle fires and lack of adequate fire protection and procedures on a ro-ro ship in termsof an electric car fire. The second part of this article presents some possible solutions to improvethe fire safety of ro-ro ships, on cargo decks, and the author’s idea of implementing a new fireprotection device consisting of fire ventilation. No other study has addressed fire safety challengesof ro-ro ships with such depth, especially given the emerging risk of electric cars.