1. 63international Tug & OSV, January/February 2015www.tugandosv.com
Fire-FiGhTinG & POllUTiOn cOnTrOl
Knowledge sharing is key to development
Production begins on state-of-the-art fireboat for San Francisco Bay
US shipbuilder Metalcraft Marine
believes its high-speed aluminium
fireboats represent a new generation in
vessel technology. When fitted with Sea-
Fire H-Series engineered fire suppression
systems, the Firestorm fireboats offer
safety for personnel and protection of the
vessel and equipment onboard.
The City of Alexandria, Virginia, now
has a Firestorm 50 fitted with the system.
Capt Rodney Masser’s positive prior
experience with Sea-Fire led him to this
decision. “Sea-Fire systems came highly
recommended by the boatbuilder,” said
Masser. “We have been very satisfied with
Sea-Fire Systems equipment and service.
This comes from our experience using the
Sea-Fire fire protection systems on our last
two fireboats.”
Sorbcontrol SL, a Spanish company
headquartered in Barcelona which
specialises in manufacturing equipment
designed to combat oil spill pollution,
launched a revolutionary self-inflatable
containment boom under the commercial
name of Grintec®
Ràpid at the beginning
of 2014 (see IT&O Jan/Feb 2014, page 65).
Since the launch of the product, Juan
Francisco Pozzi, CEO, Sorbcontrol, has had
a very busy year travelling the world to meet
customers in many countries to demonstrate
the benefits of this innovative design.
Pozzi explained that one of the many
advantages of this containment boom is that
it makes deployment and stowage much
easier and faster, thanks not only to the
absence of valves, but also because auxiliary
devices such as pumps or compressors are
not required. These characteristics enable the
boom to be easily deployed and recovered by
only two operators.
Throughout the year Sorbcontrol carried
out demonstrations in Nigeria, Ghana,
▼ Metalcraft’s Firestorm 50 fireboat employs
Sea Fire’s H-Series fire suppression system
Suppression system offers safety and protection
Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia and Mexico.
The company was also very keen to share
knowledge with local companies in those
countries. Pozzi commented that the idea of
co-creation and co-operation is a key factor
in the development of new products within
the industry. To this end, Sorbcontrol invited
industry personnel and customers to view and
learn how to operate the self-inflatable boom,
alongside other equipment.
Miguel Rodriguez, commercial manager
of the company, said: “It was interesting to
find out that opinions among these countries
were pretty similar when talking about the
self-inflatable boom. People were interested
in the simplicity and amazed with the ease of
use of Grintec Ràpid.”
Pozzi added: “One of the principal goals
of these demonstrations is to increase the
industry awareness of innovation in oil
spill response. Innovation could help us not
only in minimising the negative impact on
the environment of an oil spill by making
operations faster, but also in making
it safer for the operators. In that sense,
being international allows us to receive
feedback from different places, which is
vital to continue our high commitment
with innovation.”
Metalcraft’s FireStorm 50 has proven
sea-keeping abilities offshore. The cabin,
cuddy and head enable the crew to stay on
station for extended periods as a command
centre. It is equipped with an onboard
generator, heating, ventilation and air
conditioning for additional comfort.
Thesuppressionsystemwasalsoinstalled
on St Louis Fire Department’s Firestorm
40; Camden, New Jersey Fire Department’s
Firestorm 50 and North Charleston, South
Carolina Fire Department’s Firestorm 32.
Sea-FireH-Seriescustom-engineeredfire
suppression systems protect spaces from
139m2
to 1,625m2
and provide economical
solutions to protect many types of craft
including workboats, marine vessels and
onshore/offshore marine applications.
The systems are fully customisable and
▲ The Grintec Ràpid on show at one of
Sorbcontrol’s many international demonstrations
available with versatile options such as
automatic and manual, or manual-only
systems. Features include 30 or 60-second
time delay, alarm sirens and pressure trips
for maintaining compartment integrity. Sea-
Fire engineered marine systems are tested
and approved in accordance with IMO/
SOLAS requirements.
Jensen Maritime, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Crowley Maritime, has been
selected to provide detailed production
engineering and construction management
on a 26.8m x 7.6m Super Pumper NFPA
Type II Fireboat for the San Francisco
Fire Department. Jensen completed the
fireboat contract design in 2012.
Vigor Industrial will build the vessel in
Seattle. Due out in late summer 2015, the
state-of-the-art workboat will operate in San
Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay and the Pacific
Ocean within five miles of shore and the
adjoining inland waterways.
Bryan Nichols, director of sales at Vigor
Fab, said: “Vigor has a long history of working
with Jensen and we are proud to be able to
continue that relationship with the construction
of this new fireboat. Vigor’s shipbuilding best
practices together with Jensen’s considerable
design expertise will ensure that the San
Francisco Fire Department has a vessel that
they can rely on for years to come.”
The vessel will feature chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE)
detection capabilities, as well as self-contained
breathing apparatus and local air supply
ports. It was designed in accordance with the
US National Fire Protection Association’s
standard detailing requirements for the
construction of new marine fire-fighting
vessels, and ABS class rules for building and
classing steel vessels less than 90m in length,
though it will not be classed.
The boat will have two fire-fighting modes.
In normal mode, it will pump 1,135.60 ltrs/sec
of water at 10 bar. In super-pumper mode, it
will pump 378.50 ltrs/sec of water at 10 bar
and 378.50 ltrs/sec of water at 21 bar.
Johan Sperling, Jensen vice president, said:
“We are proud to work with the San Francisco
Fire Department again. We’ve worked
closely with them in the past and believe
wholeheartedly that this highly capable
fireboat will be a real asset to the department.”
Supplied with kind permission of the ABR Company Ltd, publishers of:
Tug&OSVINCORPORATING SALVAGE NEWS
International