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In our Know Your Ship blog with Sentini Marine, we cover a range of topics about keeping yourself and others safe onboard. Topics range from fire-fighting to dealing with medical emergencies. In this article, it’s all about a protection system for your superyacht helideck with a pop-up foam firefighting system.
Having a helideck on a yacht can be seen as the ultimate luxury tender, but helidecks are particularly at risk of fires due to fuel spills, electrical malfunctions, or landing accidents. According to reports in 2017, a helicopter that crashed into the sea when attempting to land on the aft of a superyacht occurred when “a tarpaulin covering a jet fuel bowser located forward on the helideck detached and was blown up in the main rotor”, showing just how easily accidents can happen.
The consequences and potential rapid escalation of even a small accident can be devastating; excellent knowledge of ships equipment and efficient fire suppression systems are crucial for these environments to ensure rapid response, minimise risks, and protect lives and assets. One such advanced system is the Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (DIFFS), which is essential for superyacht helidecks. Do you know how to operate it?
What Is A DIFFS?
DIFFS is a comprehensive firefighting system designed to quickly detect and combat fires on a superyacht helideck. Here’s how it works:
Pop-Up Nozzles:
The system includes nine 2.5” rotating pop-up nozzles that rise from the deck when activated, covering the area with a foam blanket to prevent fuel fires.
Hydrants:
Two foam hydrants with foam/water multipurpose Akron nozzles provide additional fire suppression capability.
Components:
- Main heli fire fighting pump
- Foam pump
- Foam agent tank
- Foam admixer for mixing the foam solution
Water supply
The system uses water from a sea inlet/crossover via the sea water cooling system.
Foam supply
Foam is provided from a designated foam agent tank.
So How Do You Control & Activate It?
The unit is capable of being activated either manually (by way of the remote manual stations) or automatically (by way of UV/IR flame detectors). All units have multiple activation methods with the most common being automatic activation with remote, manual override buttons. The DIFFS can be controlled from various points on the superyacht, ensuring rapid response in case of a fire:
- Wheelhouse control panel
- Local control units
- Main Switchboard (MSWB) in MCR
Things To Consider:
With all marine systems and equipment, prevention is always better than the cure. If you are crew on a yacht with a heli-deck, consider these things:
- have all precautions been understood? (Consider the cover that blew up into the rotor)
- Does your heli-deck have flag state approval?
- Does the ISM training matrix meet he national aviation standards for the areas you are operating in?
- Are operation instructions clear and understandable?
Familiarity with the vessel you work on and its life saving equipment is essential, don’t be passive about it. Your safety, and the safety of your crew mates, is your responsibility.
Check Out This Video
Below you’ll find an example of a firefighting protection system for a superyacht helideck with a pop-up system.
Sentini Marine supply bespoke Technical Operating Manuals and training to both the commercial shipping world and private yachts.
Find them on their website here: https://www.sentinimarine.com/
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