The marine safety solutions provider Survitec has completed the first annual service on its fire fighting system and safety equipment aboard Yara Birkeland, the world’s first fully autonomous container ship, ahead of its first laden voyage.
The zero-emission ship, which is preparing to carry its first fertiliser cargo on the Herøya-Brevik route in Norway, operates an automatic and remotely operated fire system, designed and commissioned by Survitec.
Survitec’s has supplied the 120 TEU vessel with a Novenco XFlow® water mist system for its eight separate battery rooms, an inergen fire extinguishing system for the switchboard rooms, pumps rooms, control rooms and electrical spaces, according to a statement.
The survival technology company has also provided the fully electric ship with an NFF XFlow® Deluge system for the cargo holds, open decks, superstructure and other compartments.
Additionally, Survitec has also supplied the vessel with fire safety and life-saving equipment, including flares, radios, breathing apparatus, immersion suits and lifejackets, that also passed the November inspection.
“The fire system aboard Yara Birkeland is ready for safe operations, with crews monitoring the system from a virtual bridge and machinery control room ashore,” said Survitec account manager, Andreas Dåsvatn.
Commenting on the different approach required to extinguish a fire aboard a crewless ship, Dåsvatn explained, “Typically, fire systems are built for manual operation, so we had to redesign the system for automatic activation based on the signals received from heat, flame and fire sensors located all around the vessel.”
The fire systems also had to send signals to seawater pumps, gas cylinders and valves, providing alerts to operators shoreside, according to Dåsvatn.
This new approach meant that Survitec had to redesign the Novenco system for 60 minutes of operation rather than 30 minutes specified for conventional vessels.
Extra fire safety features into the ship included additional segregated fire zones and system redundancy, while drain valves have also been integrated into the system to allow for automatic opening and closing to prevent free-surface flooding.
“As the industry starts to see these autonomous, alternatively fuelled vessels operating successfully and safely, demand will speed up. We predict more autonomous vessel projects over coming years,” concluded Dåsvatn.
