{"id":8777,"date":"2017-05-16T10:35:53","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T09:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/?post_type=insight&#038;p=8777"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T09:57:40","slug":"fires-caused-by-hold-lights-in-bulk-carriers","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/insight\/fires-caused-by-hold-lights-in-bulk-carriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Fires Caused by Hold Lights in Bulk Carriers"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"8777\" class=\"elementor elementor-8777\" data-elementor-post-type=\"insight\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-647073b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"84536\" data-id=\"647073b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0df8320\" data-eae-slider=\"42261\" data-id=\"0df8320\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a3f6ba1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a3f6ba1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In the last few years there has been a change in bulk cargo ship design relating to Australian ladderways. The ships we have seen were all built in China, with the Australian ladders built as partially enclosed box sections (see Photograph 1, below).<\/p><p>Building the ladderways as box sections provides increased protection for crew members and stevedores, helps prevent mechanical damage during loading and discharge and usually reduces ship construction time. Given that the Australian ladders are now partially enclosed, lights are fitted inside to help prevent injuries and comply with health and safety regulations (Photograph 2).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e4679c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"0e4679c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"536\" height=\"231\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-1-and-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-8779\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-1-and-2.jpg 536w, https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-1-and-2-300x129.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Left: Photograph 1, A box section Australian ladder fitted with lights.<br> Right: Photograph 2, A typical light fitted in an enclosed Australian ladderway.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cfa57e0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cfa57e0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>However, lights and bulk cargoes are not a good combination. Hawkins have recently seen a number of new build ships (both Panamax and Handymax) where lights have been fitted in the ladderway, but no instructions have been given to the crew on isolating the lights when loading cargo.<\/p><p>Hold lights left on are a source of heat and can lead to ignition of a bulk cargo (wheat, soybeans, coal etc). Hawkins have dealt with a number of fires in quick succession that involved hold lights igniting the cargo. The recurring theme in these incidents is the crew failing to isolate the lights or not knowing that lights were fitted in the hold. This has been happening on newer ships as, historically, bulk cargo vessels have not been fitted with hold lights.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-767bb8c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"767bb8c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"543\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-3-and-4.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-8780\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-3-and-4.jpg 543w, https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hold-lights-image-3-and-4-300x108.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Photographs 3 (left) and 4 (right) show typical fire damage which has resulted from leaving hold lights on after loading cargo.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c52601 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c52601\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>It is essential that hold lighting systems are isolated before loading bulk cargoes, ideally by removing the fuses or the Chief Engineer marking and isolating the relevant circuit breakers. Failure to take these measures can put both the ship and cargo in danger.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the last few years there has been a change in bulk cargo ship design relating to Australian ladderways. The ships we have seen were all built in China, with the Australian ladders built as partially enclosed box sections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8781,"parent":0,"template":"","insight_category":[],"experties":[66,67],"class_list":["post-8777","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","experties-fire-explosions","experties-marine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hold Light Fires in Bulk Carriers: Causes &amp; Prevention<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understand how hold lights can cause fires in bulk carriers and what forensic investigations reveal about prevention and liability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/insight\/fires-caused-by-hold-lights-in-bulk-carriers\/\" 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