Development of a Robust Fire Boat to Operate at Fishery Harbours

Abstract

Fires on board of fishing craft at fishery harbours in Sri Lanka have occurred frequently during the last two decades, and in most instances, these spread to nearby fishing craft as well, resulting in heavy damage to property and the lives of the fishermen on-board. The traditional shorebased extinguish methods used to quench the fires proved unsuccessful in every instance. The drawbacks were identified for the existing methods of extinguishing a fire on board of a fishing craft. The most feasible and reliable method was to develop an in-shore patrol craft to hook and tow out the fishing craft on fire away from the other craft, and extinguish the fire with a major firefighting system designed for and installed in the rescuer craft. Thus, a floating fire extinguishing platform was designed and developed in accordance with the international and local fire regulations. The study comprises the designing of the fire main system with the mathematical calculations associated with the designed system and the stability of the craft.