Crew safely removed from burning fishing vessel
“It’s a terrible thing but fortunately nobody got hurt.”
Arecent fishing trip in southwestern Nova Scotia ended in a terrible scenario for the crew as their fishing vessel was destroyed by fire, but fortunately everyone got off safely.
On March 14, at approximately 3:45 p.m., the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax was notified that the 50-foot fishing vessel Seaing Triple had experienced an engine room fire that had left the lobster vessel disabled.
“At the time of notification, the fire was extinguished and the crew was in no immediate danger,” Megan Gallant, of media relations with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard, told Saltwire.
The Coast Guard vessel Chedabucto Bay was tasked to assist the disabled vessel and proceeded to tow it back into port.
Steve Jacquard Wedgeport fire chief
During the tow, the fire onboard flared up again but it was successfully extinguished a second time by the crew of the vessel, allowing the tow to continue.
But later things changed. At approximately 6:30 p.m., and about one nautical mile from Wedgeport, Yarmouth County, the fire flared up for a third time.
“This time, the crew was unable to extinguish the fire and were forced to abandon to the CCGS Chedabucto Bay,” Gallant says.
The Chedabucto Bay remained on scene to observe the fire. The Canadian Coast Guard Marine Environmental and Hazards Response team was also tasked to conduct an assessment of the environmental risks associated with the disabled and abandoned vessel.
“There were three crew members on board the vessel at the time. No injuries were reported,” Gallant shared.
Due to the reported location of the fire, further firefighting assistance was not possible. A local fire department was standing by on shore to assist if required.
The Coast Guard says fighting a fire aboard a ship can be very different, tactically, than on land due to the nature of the extinguishing agents used.
“For example, in engine rooms, CO2 systems generally provide the most effective response to extinguish fires,” reads an email from Gallant. “It was reported to the Canadian Coast Guard
that the crew of the F/V Seaing Triple used at least two CO2 separate applications into the engine room of the vessel.”
Steve Jacquard, the chief of the Wedgeport Volunteer Fire Department, says there was nothing the department could do to assist the situation. While dispatched to the scene, they could only watch helplessly from shore as the vessel burned well beyond the wharf.
“The Coast Guard was still towing it in and they were beyond the point of Wedgeport and it caught fire again for the third time and the Coast Guard told the crew to get off the boat," Jacquard said. "They just left the vessel there and they brought the crew to the wharf in Wedgeport.”
Jacquard said the plan had been that if the vessel had stayed smouldering, it would have been placed on the outside of the wharf as the situation was assessed.
“If we could have put it out, we would have put it out. But we also had to be careful because there's lobster cars (storage holding facilities) on the outside,” he said.
Jacquard said the department has fought a vessel fire at the wharf before and firefighters were able to salvage that boat.
But this time there was nothing anyone could do.
“It's a terrible thing but fortunately nobody got hurt,” he said.