Fire Fighting - General — Most Asked Questions
28 questions asked about fire fighting - general across the General and Fn 3 papers, heaviest first. 3 of them are must-master.
Learn the system first
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1 deck fire fighting system on chemical tankers?
Answer
Chemical tankers carry a fixed deck foam system sized well above crude-oil practice because chemical fires are hotter and harder to kill.
- Chemical tankers: foam capacity the largest of entire cargo deck at 2.0 litre/m2/min, or 20 litre/m2/min over the single largest tank.
- Oil tankers for comparison: 0.6 litre/m2/min over the whole deck or 6.0 litre/m2/min over the largest tank — roughly a third of chemical-tanker figures.
- System parts: seawater supply pumps, foam-liquid storage, proportioning device and deck distribution with monitors and applicators.
- It must knock down spill fires, stop unignited spill igniting, and fight fires in ruptured tanks.
Surveyor follow-up: why does a chemical tanker need three times the foam rate of a crude carrier?
Full theory: Deck Foam & Inert Gas (IG) Systems on Tankers -
2 Purifier room fire fighting system?
Answer
The purifier room is a high-fire-risk machinery space: hot oil under pressure plus mist means fixed local protection, detection and quick isolation.
- Purifier and cargo-pump spaces sit inside the machinery-space fire-protection envelope with foam, water-mist coverage and portable backup.
- Fixed local application (hyper-mist/water spray) covers the purifier flat: fine mist from pressure-drop nozzles smothers oil fires without flooding electrics.
- Detection and control: flame/smoke detection over the flat, high- and low-water alarms on the mist unit, detector supervision.
- Isolation on fire: stop purifier feed pumps, trip ventilation, close quick-closing fuel valves remotely — then fight the fire, never feed it.
Surveyor follow-up: purifier high-temperature alarm with mist in the room — keep running to finish separation or stop first?
Full theory: Ship Sprinkler & Hypermist (Water Mist) Systems -
3 Emg fire pump
Answer
The emergency fire pump sits outside the engine room so one fire cannot kill every pump, and must feed at least two hoses anywhere on board.
- Capacity not less than 40% of the main fire pumps’ total, and never below 25 m³/h.
- Pressure: cargo ships 1000–6000 GT at least 2.6 bar, above 6000 GT at least 2.8 bar.
- Location outside the engine room — typically forward, steering flat or shaft tunnel — easily accessible, with its own suction (total suction head within 4.5 m under all trim and list).
- Drive independent: electric from the emergency generator, or diesel hand-started with two battery sets (six starts in 30 minutes, two within 10), fuel tanks full for 3 hours plus 15 hours reserve.
Surveyor follow-up: main fire pump and emergency pump both run — how do you prove the two jets reach the poop and the forecastle together?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
4 Firefighting arrangement system on deck
Also asked: “Firefighting system on board”
Answer
Deck fire cover means two jets anywhere: hydrants near protected-space access, hoses coupled fast, mains that never freeze.
- Hydrants sited so two jets from different hydrants — one on a single hose length — reach any crew space.
- Pipes and hydrants coupled easily with isolating valves splitting the machinery-space section.
- Relief valves guard pump pressure above design; drains empty the line against icing in sub-zero trades.
- Nozzles, hoses and international coupling kept ready with the main pressurised throughout.
Surveyor follow-up: one hydrant reaches everywhere alone — compliant or not, and why two jets?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
5 What is semi portable extinguisher
Also asked: “What is semiportable type extinguisher”
Answer
Semi-portables are wheeled big brothers of hand extinguishers: 50–150 kg units needing two crew for monitors and manifolds.
- Wheeled foam, powder and CO2 units parked at engine-room, boiler and purifier platforms.
- Powder sizes near 50, 70 and 150 kg running about three minutes on outside CO2 expulsion.
- Controllable nozzles stretch reach where hand bottles fall short.
- Two-person drill: one on the hose, one on the valves — never single-handed against a running fire.
Surveyor follow-up: hand bottle or semi-portable for a purifier-flat fire — which one, and who mans it?
Full theory: Classes of Fire & Portable Fire Extinguishers on Ships -
6 How will you know that priming arrangement for emergency fire pump is working satisf
Answer
Prove priming by water, not hope: priming tank full, casing vented solid, suction open, pressure rising on start.
- Priming-water tank full with vacuum-pump check valve proved on its line.
- Suction fully open with discharge shut and casing vent cracked until solid water shows.
- Start and open discharge gradually watching suction and discharge pressures with amps steady.
- Ballast-condition suction lift proved separately — loaded-draft success never proves ballast lift.
Surveyor follow-up: pressure hunting with the tank full — air leak, foot valve or suction lift, and what proves it?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
7 Fire fighting in cargo space
Answer
Fight cargo fires from outside first: cool boundaries, starve vents, then flood the space with gas and hold it sealed.
- Cool boundaries all round with hoses so the fire cannot migrate through steel into the next hold.
- Vent skilfully for a cool-air approach path, never letting fire cut the escape route.
- Flood with CO₂ to 35–50% and hold concentration with hatches sealed and fans stopped.
- Re-enter only trained, equipped and permitted with lifelines and breathing sets after time and tests prove it.
Surveyor follow-up: boundary hot with smoke easing after gas release — re-enter, re-flood or keep cooling, and what decides?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
8 Deck fire fighting for bulk
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9 Difference between valve and hydrant
Answer
The valve controls the fire main; the hydrant is the outlet a hose connects to — the tap and the spigot.
- Isolation valves on the fire main shut a section for repair or to stop a damaged main feeding the fire.
- Hydrants are the deck outlets with hose couplings, sized so two jets from different hydrants reach any crew space.
- Each hydrant has its own valve so a single outlet can be isolated without shutting the whole main.
- The international shore connection is the ship’s other inlet, sized to marry the shore main in any port.
Surveyor follow-up: deck fire main isolated at one valve with two hydrants left live — sound isolation or a fire risk?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
10 Emcy fire pump solas requirements
Also asked: “Emcgy fire pump requirements”
Answer
The emergency fire pump is independent insurance: its own power, its own fuel and enough capacity for two jets.
- Capacity at least 40% of the main fire pump and never less than 25 m³/h, so two independent jets can be manned.
- At least two jets must be delivered, not both from the same hydrant, with one hose length between them.
- Installed outside the engine room, usually forward of the collision bulkhead, at the steering gear flat or in the tunnel.
- Diesel-driven with start by hand or battery, fuel for 3 hours running plus a reserve tank for 15 hours further.
Surveyor follow-up: emergency pump proved with only one hydrant in the test — does that satisfy the two-jet rule?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
11 Fire fighting booklet
Answer
The fire control plan is the ship’s fire-fighting manual in picture form, stowed where the bridge and the crew can reach it.
- Stowed in a marked container on the bridge, in the fire control station and in the engine control room.
- Shows portable and semi-portable extinguisher positions, EEBD locations and quantities, and the fixed systems.
- Gives the detection and alarm arrangement, the ventilation system, and the number and location of fire hydrants.
- Also shows lifeboat and liferaft positions, means of escape, and fire-main and fuel-line isolation points.
Surveyor follow-up: plan on the bridge missing the engine control room copy — which station does the surveyor ask for?
Full theory: Fire Control Plan, Muster List & Flooding Response -
12 Fire fighting equipment
Answer
Fire-fighting gear is fixed and portable: fire mains, hydrants, fixed systems and extinguishers chosen by the class of fire.
- Fixed: fire mains with hydrants, emergency and main pumps, water mist, foam, CO₂ and sprinkler systems as fitted.
- Portable: water, foam, dry powder and CO₂ extinguishers sized and sited for the spaces they protect.
- Semi-portable: wheeled units for engine rooms and galleys, able to be brought to the fire rather than to it.
- Supporting gear counts too: fire blankets, buckets, EEBDs, breathing sets and the fire control plan itself.
Surveyor follow-up: galley with only portable CO₂ and no fixed system — adequate for a galley fire or not?
Full theory: Classes of Fire & Portable Fire Extinguishers on Ships -
13 Fire fighting in e/r
Answer
Engine-room fires are fought by restriction: alarm, isolate fuel, cut the air supply, cool boundaries, then the fixed system.
- Sound the fire alarm, inform bridge and chief engineer, and state the size, location and whether machinery must stop.
- Never use water on oil or electrical fires; restrict with remote quick-closing valves on the fuel supply.
- Stop the engine-room blowers to cut fresh air but keep the exhaust fans running to clear smoke.
- For severe fires evacuate, start the emergency generator and emergency fire pump, release the fixed system, and cool from outside.
Surveyor follow-up: fuel fire in the engine room with the fire main already charged — isolate first, or fight first?
Full theory: Fire Control Plan, Muster List & Flooding Response -
14 Fire fighting on deck n working
Answer
Deck fires are boundary problems: cool what is behind you, isolate fuel and ventilation, and never let the fire find the accommodation.
- Close the space below and cool the boundary while the deck party attacks with the correct medium for the fuel.
- Shut ventilation and isolate the fuel or cargo transfer — a deck fire spreads on air and vapour, not on steel.
- Move the ship to put the fire away from the accommodation and keep a clear escape route and a water curtain ready.
- Account for the crew and muster them, and do not re-enter the space until it is cool and the atmosphere tested.
Surveyor follow-up: deck fire with the accommodation bulkhead warm and no boundary cooling — which comes first?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
15 Fire fighting requirements for engine room
Answer
Engine rooms carry detection, alarm, fixed extinguishing, fire main coverage and the means to shut the space down safely.
- Fixed detection and alarm in periodically unattended and automatically controlled machinery spaces, with the panel outside.
- Fixed extinguishing sized for the space, with remote shutdown of fuel, ventilation and machinery on activation.
- Fire main coverage from at least two hydrants reachable by one hose length, plus the emergency fire pump standing by.
- Portable and semi-portable extinguishers placed for the class of fuel, with an emergency fire plan at the station.
Surveyor follow-up: engine room with a single hydrant reachable from the rest of the ship — does the two-hose rule hold?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
16 Fire fighting system installed
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17 Firefighting system on deck of your ship
Answer
The deck system is foam and water: monitors, fire main, hydrants and the portable extinguishers that finish what the monitors start.
- A deck foam system blankets burning oil from monitors controlled at a station clear of the cargo area.
- The fire main and hydrants give cooling and boundary work, with foam monitors laying the blanket on the oil itself.
- Portable dry powder and CO₂ cover the fringe — the fire main cools, the foam blankets, the extinguisher finishes.
- Quote the ship’s actual arrangement: monitors, the foam ratio, the fire main pump and the extinguishers in the fire plan.
Surveyor follow-up: deck fire with the foam supply isolated at the control station — who opens it, and is that in the plan?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
18 Fixed foam fire fighting arrangemnet for deck?
Answer
The deck foam system is a loop: foam tank, foam pump, proportioner, foam monitors and the control station clear of the cargo.
- The foam tank holds the concentrate, with a P/V valve on the vent so the tank breathes without losing the blanket.
- The foam pump draws concentrate and a diaphragm valve/proportioner makes it to the required mix with seawater.
- Foam monitors discharge the blanket onto the deck, and the fire main is there for cooling and boundary work alongside.
- The control station sits away from the cargo area, and the whole deck is covered inside 5 minutes with at least 20 minutes supply.
Surveyor follow-up: deck foam tested with the proportioner valve closed and the discharge still clear — is the foam the right grade?
Full theory: Deck Foam & Inert Gas (IG) Systems on Tankers -
19 How to check efficiency of dcp portable extinguisher
Answer
A dry powder extinguisher is checked by weighing it and proving it fires: charge weight, pressure, and a discharge at the maker’s figures.
- Weigh the extinguisher and compare with the full charge weight on the body — that is how loss is found, not by eye.
- Check the pressure gauge on a stored-pressure set, and the CO₂ cartridge where fitted, replacing a spent cartridge.
- Discharge it at least yearly and check the nozzle for a sharp crackling discharge at the set pressure.
- Check the safety pin, the relief hole, the cap and the body: a body of solid drawn steel, zinc coated inside and out.
Surveyor follow-up: extinguisher a kilogram light with a good gauge reading — is it leaked, partly discharged, or just not weighed?
Full theory: Classes of Fire & Portable Fire Extinguishers on Ships -
20 How to test emergency fire pump
Answer
Start it, run it on the fire main and prove it delivers two independent jets — a test that never pressurises nothing.
- Start from the emergency generator or by hand, and let it run long enough to warm and prove the prime.
- Deliver through the fire main to two hydrants not in line with each other, and read the pressure and flow.
- Check the running hours, fuel for 3 hours plus 15 hours reserve, and the condition of the starting batteries.
- Record the test with pressures, timing and any defect — an untested emergency pump is the pump nobody trusts.
Surveyor follow-up: pump started weekly but the last two-hour delivery test was a year ago — running proof or delivery proof?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
21 If main fire pump not working then how to supply water
Answer
The emergency fire pump takes over on its own line, with the emergency generator and the shore connection as the layers behind it.
- The emergency fire pump is fed from a separate suction, so it runs when the main pump and the sea chest line are out.
- The emergency generator starts automatically to give it power, so a total main board loss does not stop the fire main.
- In port the international shore connection can supply the fire main directly, and portable monitors can be fed from it.
- If all of that is lost, the ship is a total loss by definition — so the emergency layers are tested, not assumed.
Surveyor follow-up: main pump failed with the emergency pump proved running but no power — what has actually stopped the water?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
22 On main deck fire line which devices are there?
Answer
The deck fire main carries hydrants, isolation valves, branch connections and the international shore connection.
- Hydrants spaced so two jets from different hydrants reach any crew space on one hose length.
- Isolation valves at intervals and at every accommodation and engine-room entrance, all operable from outside.
- The international shore connection for shore supply in any port, with its gasket, bolts and coupling ready.
- Drain cocks at low points for draining in frost, and relief valves where the main is long or the ship high.
Surveyor follow-up: main deck hydrant with no isolation valve aft of it — a maintenance point or a fire risk first?
Full theory: Ship Fire Main & Emergency Fire Pump System -
23 Portable and semi portable
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24 Semi portable dcp and foam
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25 Something recording fire line on deck he asked
Answer
The surveyor was after the fire-main diagram: the run of the main, the hydrants, the isolation valves and the foam connection points.
- Show the fire main run along the deck with every hydrant, valve and branch to the accommodation and machinery spaces.
- Mark the emergency fire pump and its separate suction, and the international shore connection at its actual position.
- Mark the foam system take-off and the monitors, and the portable extinguisher stations along the same route.
- Carry the diagram on the fire control plan and in the fire party’s hands — the surveyor reads the route, not the symbol.
Surveyor follow-up: fire main diagram showing a valve with no label and a hydrant behind the foam manifold — what is missing?
Full theory: Fire Control Plan, Muster List & Flooding Response -
26 What is class k fire?which ext to extinguish it?what is fixed fire fighting arrangements for galley fire?
Answer
Class K is cooking oil: smother it with wet chemical, never water, and the galley carries a fixed system over the range.
- Class K covers cooking oils and fats, which burn at temperatures no dry powder or CO₂ will truly extinguish.
- Wet chemical extinguisher saponifies the burning oil into a soapy foam that smothers it — water on it causes a violent boil-over.
- Galleys carry a fixed extinguishing system over the range with dual thermostats, a power cut-off and an alarm in the galley.
- Fire blankets at the door, clean ducts and filters on schedule, and burners proved off after cooking complete the picture.
Surveyor follow-up: galley oil fire with a dry powder extinguisher open in the locker — which agent, and can you reach it?
Full theory: Classes of Fire & Portable Fire Extinguishers on Ships -
27 What type of foam inside semiportable ext
Answer
Semi-portable foam extinguishers carry low-expansion foam — protein, fluoroprotein or a film-forming blend, depending on the fuel.
- Foam extinguishers discharge a blanket, so the agent is low-expansion foam for oil and flammable liquid fires.
- Protein foam burns back slowly and resists re-ignition; fluoroprotein and film-forming blends are faster to spread and cut fuel vapour.
- The concentrate is premixed with water by the proportioner in the extinguisher, which is why the nozzle gives a foam and not a jet.
- Check the label for the grade and the expansion ratio, and prove it discharges as foam rather than solution.
Surveyor follow-up: semi-portable discharging a clear jet at the fire — is the concentrate, the proportioner or the nozzle?
Full theory: Classes of Fire & Portable Fire Extinguishers on Ships -
28 Which ship sailed. I told vlcc. Asked firefighting systems onboard. Then asked about hypermist system. How it works. Sensors for getting system activated. How to test sensors
Answer
On a VLCC, hypermist is a zoned water mist for the accommodation and machinery spaces, activated by detectors and proved with clean water.
- Two detectors must agree before release: the panel zones the fire and signals the hypermist control panel.
- The control panel starts the plunger pump and opens that zone’s solenoid valve — about 200 litres per minute at 70 bar.
- Nozzles pass 12–20 litres per minute at 50 bar, making a cooling fog that smothers without the water load of a deluge.
- Test the sensors with the approved test agent, then discharge each zone with clean water and prove the flow and pressure alarms.
Surveyor follow-up: zone proved with the pump running but no flow alarm — is the flow switch, the strainer or the nozzle?
Full theory: Ship Sprinkler & Hypermist (Water Mist) Systems
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