b'ingfuelheatingcanistersfollowingHospitality staff did not participate instrategiesidentified,fromtraining SAFETYthe release of a Coast Guard Safetythevesselfamiliarizationorientationnon-marine crew in basic firefighting Alert 07-23 in June 2023 related toor shipboard drills that were requiredto having personnel on board capable firesafetyincludinguseofopenof the vessels marine crewmembers.ofrespondingtoemergenciessuch flames for heating food and beverag- Consequently,thehospitalitystaffas fire.es. Some members commented theyhad no practical experience in locating had switch to electric heating unitsor using the vessels fire safety equip- Documented procedures, such as pro-such as Buffet Burners.ment to fight a fire and were unfamil- cedures for handling open-flame devic-iar with vessel firefighting systems.es and requirements for crewmembers Although a fire blanket and fire extin- to be on board for emergency response, guisher were located near the source ofHad a trained marine crewmemberwould typically be included in a safety the fire, none of the hospitality staffbeen on board at the time of the fire,managementsystem(SMS).AnSMS attemptedtoextinguishthefireandthe marine crewmember likely couldrequires standardized and unambigu-began evacuating the vessel shortly af- have extinguished the fire before itous procedures for each crewmember ter discovering the fire. The hospitalitygrew and spread. tofollowduringbothroutineand staff were trained to alert the marineemergencyoperations.AnSMSalso crewmembers in the event of fire; how- Note: In discussions among membersrequires the company to identify risks ever, the marine crewmembers were notof the PVA Safety & Security Com- and plan crew responses for a range of aboard when the fire was discovered. mittee there was a range of mitigationpossible emergency situations. Further, an SMS includes a company-involved audit process for identifying and cor-recting nonconformities.Having an SMS in place would have requiredthecompanytoidentify risks, like those posed by the use of chafingfuelheatingcanistersand nothavingemployeestrainedin firefightingaboard,andtocreate policies and procedures to mitigate those risks.Note:ThePVASafety&Security Committee have continued to refine PVAsFlagshipSMSandthereare members who are very close to imple-menting this voluntary system. Additionalinformationaboutthe M/V Spirit of Boston accident, includ-ingthefullaccidentreport,canbe found at Fire Aboard Passenger Vessel SpiritofBoston,Commonwealth Pier, Boston Harbor, Boston, Massa-chusetts, March 24, 2023, MIR-24-37.SCAN THE QR CODE TO LEARNABOUT THE INDUSTRYS BEST PERFORMING HULL DESIGN:SALES@ALLAMERICANMARINE.COM | 360.647.7602FOGHORN 38'