Auxiliary Engine Fire: Smoke, Soot & Extinguisher Residue Contamination in Engine Room

What happened?

While berthed in Antwerp, a gas carrier suffered a small engine-room fire near one auxiliary engine. The crew successfully extinguished the fire using CO₂, water mist, and powder extinguishers, but the combination of smoke, soot, and extinguishing residues caused heavy contamination throughout the engine room. The vessel was carrying LPG and needed to discharge as soon as possible to stay on schedule.

Response: Making the damage undone

• Rapid mobilization & safety controls: BELFOR Technology deployed immediately
• Corrosion risk check: Measured chloride levels to assess corrosion potential on metals and electrical equipment and to set cleaning thresholds.
• Round-the-clock execution: Organized day/night shifts to shorten downtime and maintain continuous progress.
• Technical decontamination: Performed thorough engine-room cleaning to remove soot and extinguisher residues from machinery, piping, cable trays, decks, and bulkheads; replaced contaminated insulation in affected zones.
• Quality assurance: Conducted spot tests/visual checks and re-measured chlorides to confirm target values were met before handover.
• Stakeholder coordination: Kept all parties informed with daily progress updates.

Result: Minimised loss of hire

Within one week, the engine room was fully cleaned and the affected insulation replaced. Due to our swift response and commitment, the downtime of the vessel was minimized casing no delay on the vessels schedule.