Fire On Board US Small Passenger Vessel Massachusetts

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May 17, 2008

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Fire On Board US Small Passenger Vessel Massachusetts Boston Harbor Massachusetts

Synopsis

Boston Harbor, Mass. - The commuter ferry Massachusetts was en route from Rowe’s Wharf in Boston Harbor to Hingham, Massachusetts, carrying 65 passengers and 4 crewmembers, when a fire broke out in the engineroom. The Massachusetts, owned and operated by Massachusetts Bay Lines, was inspected and certificated by the U.S. Coast Guard under the small passenger vessel regulations at 46 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 114-122. The vessel’s certificate of inspection (COI), valid for 5 years, was issued on November 14, 2002. 3 The COI allowed a total of 350 persons on board, including 346 passengers (adults and children) and 4 crewmembers (a master and 3 deckhands). At the time of the fire, the Massachusetts was operating pursuant to a subcontract with Boston Harbor Cruises, which had a 5-year contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority to provide ferry service between Rowe’s Wharf and Hingham Shipyard. The contract specified that vessels had to comply with Coast Guard requirements.

The Massachusetts crew was alerted to the fire about 1615, when the ferry was near the Long Island Bridge, by black smoke at the stern and an engine high-water-temperature alarm. The vessel did not have, and was not required to have, an engineroom fire detection system. The master maneuvered the vessel into shallow water southeast of the bridge, anchored, and waited for firefighters. Before a fireboat from the Boston Fire Department’s marine unit arrived, all the passengers safely transferred to the Laura, another commuter vessel in the vicinity. The fireboat extinguished the fire. The accident did not result in any serious injuries or fatalities. 4 Damage, estimated at $800,000, was confined mostly to the engineroom.

Fire

About 1615, the upper deck deckhand entered the pilothouse to report black smoke at the vessel’s stern. At the same time, the high-water-temperature alarm for the port inboard engine sounded. The mate stopped the port inboard engine and slowed the remaining three engines from 2000 to 1300 rpm, as directed by the master. The master went to the engineroom to investigate.

The master said that when he opened the door to the starboard ladderway leading to the engineroom, he encountered heavy smoke and immediately closed the door. He went to the phone at the main deck bar and called the pilothouse, informing the mate of the situation and instructing him to shut down two of the remaining engines. The mate shut down the port outboard engine, which had already lost some power, and the starboard outboard engine, leaving only the starboard inboard engine running.

On his way back to the pilothouse, the master directed the main deck passengers and the main deck deckhand to go to the upper deck and told the deckhands to give the passengers lifejackets. One of the passengers happened to be a Coast Guard officer commuting home. The master told the Coast Guard officer about the fire and asked for his help in contacting the Coast Guard. The officer used his cell phone to alert the local Coast Guard office, Sector Boston, about the fire.

By that time, the vessel had passed south of the Long Island Bridge. The master relieved the mate at the helm and ordered him and one deckhand to the bow to prepare to drop anchor. The mate instructed the other deckhand to help.

Probable Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the fire on board the Massachusetts was the ignition of diesel fuel by contact with a hot engine surface, which occurred because a fuel line attached to a fuel injector was not properly connected during engine maintenance by a contract mechanic. Contributing to the extent of the damage was the absence of a fixed fire detection and suppression system, which precluded the crew from receiving timely notification of the fire and which allowed the blaze to spread throughout the engineroom.

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