The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued Marine Accident Brief regarding engine room fire on board fishing vessel Arctic Storm.

On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, a fire broke out in the engine room of the uninspected  fishing vessel Arctic Storm as it was under way in the North Pacific Ocean, about 46 nautical  miles west of Aberdeen, Washington, conducting fish processing operations. The crew  extinguished the fire through the combined use of portable extinguishers, fixed suppression, and  fire hoses. No injuries or pollution resulted from the accident. The estimated damage to the  Arctic Storm was $5 million.

About 1505, the chief engineer had just entered the engine room when he noticed a fire in  the overhead area above the main propulsion engine. He also noticed that the turbocharger on the  engine’s starboard side was engulfed in flames. He radioed the captain on the bridge, and then he  and the on-watch oiler exited the engine room, which was quickly filling with smoke. The oiler  proceeded to the fish processing space, located directly above the engine room, and alerted the  workers there.

The captain had already heard the main engine’s fire alarm activate moments earlier. He  looked out the bridge window and saw a large amount of smoke pouring out of the engine  room’s ventilation outlets. He also saw that some crewmembers on deck were beginning to  respond to the emergency. The captain sounded the vessel’s general alarm and radioed vessels in  the area for assistance. The Coast Guard heard this callout as well. Because the Arctic Storm was  conducting fish processing operations that included smaller fishing vessels working nearby,  several of those vessels responded.

The Arctic Storm crewmembers reported to their muster stations to begin coordinating the  fire response. At the chief engineer’s request, the captain remotely shut down the engine room’s  ventilation systems and closed its watertight doors to contain the fire. The chief engineer also  instructed the engineering crew to ensure that the engine room’s power panel emergency stops,  ventilation emergency stops, and remote quick-closing valves for the fuel oil storage tanks all  were activated.

After the fire was extinguished, the chief engineer found a vent valve lying atop one of  the engine’s attached pumps. He determined that the valve was associated with the fuel oil  piping system located on the engine’s starboard-side fuel oil header near the starboard-side  turbocharger. The valve had become detached from the fuel oil piping system as a result of a  fracture at its threaded connection fitting. The quarter-inch, 2,000-psi valve had been installed  at an elevated position at the forward end of the fuel oil piping system, and it was used to vent  air from the system as needed. After the accident, the crew pressure-tested the fuel oil piping  system and found no abnormal leaks or openings other than at the vent valve connection.