Baltic Sea MIRG Project 1
BALTIC SEA MIRG PROJECT (2014-2016) Baltic Sea Maritime Incident Response Group (Baltic Sea MIRG) project The project will create joint MIRG coordination models and standard operating procedures for the Baltic Sea region and support the harmonisation of MIRG services in Europe www.raja.fi/mirg
PROJECT PARTNERS Project has been open for all parties providing and developing MIRG services in Europe Partners in Finland: - Finnish Border Guard, - Helsinki City Rescue Department, - South-West Finland Emergency Services, - Finnish Transport Safety Agency - Meriturva (Maritime Safety Training Centre) Registered foreign partners from Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom Nordic MIRG forum partners from Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden,
RECENT PROJECTS LED BY THE FINNISH BORDER GUARD 1. Baltic Sea Maritime Incident Response Survey 2013-2014 2. Vessel TRIAGE Projects 2014-2017 3. Baltic Sea MIRG Project 2014-2016 (4. ChemSAR, 2016-2019)
BALTIC SEA MARITIME INCIDENT RESPONSE SURVEY (2013 2014) There is not a single Baltic Sea coastal state capable of handling a large-scale maritime incident alone. All of the countries want to operate more efficiently and intensify international cooperation. Common co-operation SOPs could be effective tools to collaborate in some special areas, like vessel fires. www.raja.fi/facts/bsmir
VESSEL TRIAGE METHOD Based on the Vessel TRIAGE Project (2014-2015) A method for assessing and communicating the safety status of vessels in maritime accidents and incidents Vessel Triage supports common situational awareness between SAR service Ship Shipping companies Shore side authorities Helps communication and recognition of the most critical situations. Helps make right decision for first SAR action. Helps special shore side authorities understand situation on board. Helps to increase SAR action efficiency. www.raja.fi/vesseltriage
Outcomes of the project The project reports (http://www.raja.fi/mirg) The project summary report will be published end of 2016
RISK ANALYSIS Ship fires pose the greatest threat to European maritime safety when the risk is loss of human life or serious injury. Fire poses the greatest threat aboard ro-ro passenger ships. http://niinidigi.kopioniini.fi/mirg_raportti/ 8
EXTERNAL HELP IN SHIP FIRES European Ship Fires Frequency Location External Help Used Vessel type Number of ship fires/explosions 2000-2015* At Sea Passenger Vessels / Cruise Ships 33 21 12 Ropax 99 84 15 Ro-ro 30 19 11 At Port Cargo 238 130 108 Fishing Vessels 40 28 12 Tanker 82 48 34 Support 41 25 16 Other 7 4 3 In how many incidents external help was used? At Sea 4 At Port 5 At Sea 16 At Port 7 At Sea 7 At Port 6 At Sea 33 At Port 50 At Sea 9 At Port 6 At Sea 10 At Port 17 At Sea 9 At Port 8 At Sea 0 At Port 2 Total 570 359 211 Total 189 External assistance has been used in 189 cases (33 % of reported ship fire cases), which 89 has been at sea and 100 at port. 9
Threat Posed by a Ship Fire by Type of Vessel 11.11.2016 Liikenteen turvallisuusvirasto 10
SHIP FIRE ANALYSIS An analysis on the seven past ship fires in to develop MIRG services. 1) m/s Calypso (cruise ship), UK, 2006 2) m/v Lemo (cargo ship), Finland, 2008 3) m/s Commodore Clipper (ropax vessel), UK, 2010 4) m/s Pearl of Scandinavia (ropax vessel), Sweden, 2010 5) m/s Nordlys (ropax vessel), Norway, 2011 6) m/v Fernanda (ro-ro vessel), Iceland, 2013 7) m/v Purple Beach (cargo ship), Germany, 2015 http://niinidigi.kopioniini.fi/ Photo: Icelandic Coast Guard Rajavartiolaitos/ship_fire_incident_analysis/ 11
Key conclusions and recommendations 1. Each coastal nation should have the ability and readiness to dispatch a specially trained team to provide external help to support vessel crews in firefighting operations 2. The RCC and Fire and rescue services should have a joint operating model and co-operation agreement (or equivalent) for how to quickly deploy a MIRG expert/mirg Liaison Officer specialising in ship fires to the RCC 3. The co-ordination and command structure of external help used in ship fires should be clarified
Key conclusions and recommendations 4. Base locations, transport logistics and on-call arrangements of MIRG units and SAR helicopters should be developed as a whole 5. Joint ship fire drills between vessels and MIRG teams should be developed in co-operation with the responsible SAR authority 6. Redundancy in division of work related to emergencies on ships should be developed to withstand the absence of individual key persons
Shipping company survey Shipping companies expectations and thoughts with regard to external firefighting assistance and related joint operations in the case of a ship fire Total number of respondents: 17 companies Respondents: shipping companies operating scheduled passenger traffic in the Baltic Sea (incl. Ropax vessels), shipping companies operating scheduled passenger traffic in the English Channel (incl. Ropax vessels) and cruise ships operating in (Northern) Europe.
In the case of "smaller" fires, do you expect to receive external assistance and/or consultation on firefighting/fire control on your ship? 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Yes No Don't know
In the case of "challenging" fires, do you expect to receive external assistance and/or consultation on firefighting/fire control on your ship? 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 Yes No Don't know
What do you primarily expect from external assistance providers? Only consultation/leadership support for firefighting/fire control 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Only firefighting assistance Both consultation/leadership support and firefighting/fire control assistance Neither 17
Do your vessels have uniform operating models for cooperation with external firefighting teams (MIRG/equivalent)? 0 2 4 6 8 10 Yes No Don't know
Yes No Don't know Could the joint operations guidelines for vessel crews and external firefighting teams be based on a generally accepted operating model (one that is not shipping company-specific) that has been drafted in cooperation with different parties? (2/4) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
MIRG OOERATIONAL GUIDELINES The project developed the following operational guidelines: 1. Assessing the Safety Status of a Vessel (Vessel TRIAGE) 2. Requesting Assistance 3. Communications 4. Fire Liaison Officer 5. MIRG Operation Commander 6. Occupational Safety During a MIRG Operation 7. Distress Vessel 20
Thank you! The Finnish Border Guard (HQ) SAR Unit Commander Petteri Leppänen email: petteri.leppanen@raja.fi 21