News

Monday 18 May 2009

Fire crew undergo ferry training

Firefighters were airlifted on to a cross-Channel ferry bound for Plymouth as part of a training exercise for dealing with a fire on board a ship. The operation, Exercise Piran, involved Brittany Ferries, coastguards, Cornwall Fire Brigade and the Royal Navy. The fire crew was flown to the ferry, the Amorique, by a Royal Navy helicopter to assist the ship's crew. The brigade said it helped people train for what it described as one of the service's "worst nightmares".

'Hazardous environment'
The exercise, which simulated a fire breaking out below deck, was designed to find out how quickly an emergency at sea could be dealt with. The ship's captain issued a distress call to coastguards, who then deployed the navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and the fire crew. After the fire crew was airlifted on board the ferry, coming from Roscoff, the ship's bridge was turned into an incident control room.

Steve Brown, of the fire brigade, said such training was necessary because of the amount of danger such a scenario represented. He said: "It's is one of the fire services worst nightmares, really. You're looking at a floating metal box and all of the issues that go with that. There are also the dangers of getting on and off the ship, not to mention concerns about heat transfer and locating the fire. It's an extremely hazardous environment to work in."

More News

Navingo BV, Westerlaan 1, 3016CK, Rotterdam, T: +31 10 2092600, F: +31 10 4368134