After her scheduled discharge at Dapeng Guangdong LNG Terminal, the Dapeng Star was involved in a joint emergency drill exercise with the terminal emergency response team on 19th June, 2018.
At about 10:00, smoke was emitted from the port side of the “Dapeng Star” accommodation area and the fire alarm activated. Two minutes later, the three emergency teams onboard established contact with the Bridge command team and reported the status of all persons onboard.
In the meantime Capt Li Jun, the Master of the Dapeng Star contacted Daya Bay MSA, Dapeng LNG Terminal and CLSICO headquarters in accordance with the emergency communication procedures and made a preliminary notification regarding the fire. Four minutes later, eight firefighters from the emergency team onboard divided in two teams prepared to tackle the fire. At the same time, the ship’s support team had already cut off the power supply and air circulation unit of the cabin on fire. The fire extinguishing operations started in an intense and orderly manner.
The on-site communication was fluent and concise. The situation was clearly described. It quickly identified the fire and made a decision requiring the shore to dispatch fire engines and firefighting tugs to assist to extinguish the fire. At 10:12, the fire engines and tugboats arrived at the ship.
At 10:14, one ship crew was injured during the firefighting operation and fell into the water (simulation). At this time, the firefighters on the port side noticed the seafarer falling overboard and reported to the ship’s command team immediately. Shipside tossed the lifebuoy to the seafarer in the water. Wang Hongsheng, the shipside on-site commander reported that the ship’s rescue boat was unable to launch as the mooring line prevented it from being lowered smoothly into the water. The ship’s command team immediately contacted the shore for support. The terminal dispatched a small boat to participate in the rescue. During this period, the ship’s command team contacted the Shenzhen Emergency Center according to the emergency contact guide and requested emergency medical assistance.
At 10:20, the second firefighting team onboard reported that the fire has been extinguished and that the situation was under control. In order to prevent the fire reigniting, the Master instructed the second team to use the hot spot detector to search for hot spots at the fire site, whilst the first team continued to use water as boundary cooling.
The boat sent from shore approached the seafarer in the water, picked him up and transferred him to the shore in a very short time. When the boat arrived at the terminal, ambulances were standing by already.
At 10:30, after verifying with the firefighting teams that the fire had been completely extinguished, and having verified with the terminal that the seafarer in the water had been safely brought ashore, both sides announced that the drill was completed.
The drill was carried out within an hour and the emergency scenario was plotted to gauge the effectiveness of the terminal & the vessel’s response for an onboard accommodation fire and man-overboard scenario.
Overall the terminal & ship emergency response was up to the expectation of all parties involved, including the China Shenzhen MSA officials who were assigned to witness the whole drill process onboard. The terminal & vessel firefighting & rescue equipment, and command center was also seen to be fully operational to handle such emergencies.
As a form of improvement and to draw lessons learned after this joint drill, a de-briefing was carried out with all parties involved in the GDLNG Terminal Office.
The terminal staff & China Shenzhen MSA Officials also expressed their thanks and appreciation for the good cooperation rendered by our ship’s staff – in ensuring that the drill was carried out smoothly and able to meet its objectives.
