Resolve Marine is an international Salvage and Marine Fire Fighting (SMFF) provider and responds to maritime emergencies worldwide. To ensure response readiness in the United States, the company has built one of the largest inventories of response and salvage equipment: four fully equipped and staffed warehouses plus 23 equipment depots. Internationally the company has equipment depots in China, Singapore, India, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, South America and South Africa.
In the wake of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) OPA 90 regulations, Resolve Marine established a maritime firefighting training facility called Resolve Academy. Today Resolve Marine exceeds OPA 90 SMFF USCG guidelines within all Captain of the Port Zones, including Hawaii and Guam. In the U.S., the company has built the largest SMFF response team that responds to ship fires both in the U.S. and international waters. The inception of an in-house training facility began in 1994, following by receiving USCG & UK-MCA course approvals and instructor authorizations. In our view, Resolve Academy is the most advanced privately held facility of its kind in the industry specializing in live fire training. To date, 50,000 students have been certified in basic, advanced and specialized custom courses developed for shipowners in the oil and gas industry, the cruise industry, military and government agencies.
OPA 90 and SMFF requirements within the territorial waters of the U.S.
OPA 90 requires that all maritime operators transporting oil as cargo or fuel submit a Vessel Response Plan (VRP). The VRP includes information about the vessel, vessel owner contact information, a list of zones that the vessel intends to operate in, and the clear identification of the incident management team: the people or group to be notified in the event of a marine casualty.
It is primarily through the activation of a ship’s VRP that Resolve Marine engages and responds. In addition to port or municipal response teams, Resolve Marine provides expertise, engineering support and specialized equipment and firefighting chemicals that most fire departments do not have.
Images supplied by Author / Contributor
Phases of a marine fire response
There are four primary phases of a marine fire response.
First, an initial response call for assistance and the activation of the vessel’s VRP takes place, often by our 24-hour vessel watch team. A Remote Assessment form is sent that activates a salvage response team. Second, the vessel’s master completes an SMFF Remote Assessment Form.
This, in turn commences several activities on Resolve Marine’s part:
- 1) an onshore salvage team downloads the vessel details from database;
- 2) plans, drawings and other vessel information are retrieved from our database;
- 3) plan examples (general arrangement, capacity and safety plans) are located;
- 4) Resolve Marine personnel request the vessel cargo manifest, dangerous cargo manifest, stowage and stability and departure reports.
Third, a resolve salvage master contacts the master of the vessel for an update of the situation and conditions, and advises on the timing of SMFF, among other updates. Finally, an emergency response is activated. The plan will entail the required personnel as well as the essential portable fire and salvage equipment. During the activation, a salvage team member will start investigating the availability of local equipment and assets, including the availability of shore-based firefighting assistance.
Case studies
Car carrier fire
- Location, Jacksonville, FL
- Car Carrier/ GRT 47232
- 89 days: 4 June 2020 to 31 August 2020
- Fire/ Cargo & Hazardous Material Removal/ Bunker Removal/ Onward Towage
Resolve Marine mobilized firefighting and salvage resources to Jacksonville, Florida (USA) in response to an onboard car carrier fire. The 183ft (32m) car carrier had completed loading of approximately 2,420 vehicles on 11 decks when a fire broke out in one of the cargo holds. Resolve Marine immediately mobilized firefighting response packages, and salvage teams from their OPA 90 response depots located across the southeast United States. Responding under OPA 90 SMFF Resource Provider as the name responder under the car carriers’ VRP, Resolve Marine immediately liaised with the Unified Command/Incident Command Center working 24-hour fire cessation operations while implementing precautions to prevent harbour contamination and safeguard the local marine environment.
Resolve Marine’s rapid response was facilitated by activating a comprehensive and strategically placed inventory of OPA 90 response equipment from Mobile, AL, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Charleston, SC, and New Orleans, LA depots. Teams debunkered 1,494 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 122.4 metric tonnes of diesel oil, preventing an environmental disaster in a busy seaport. Cargo removal operations removed an estimated 1,347 damaged and 1,073 non-damaged vehicles from the car carrier before the vessel’s towage to Turkey for recycling. At the peak of the response, Resolve Marine mobilized over 40 personnel that included on-site salvage masters, naval architects, salvage officers, firefighters and salvage technicians to carry out the 24-hour operations.
Images supplied by Author / Contributor
Container ship fire
- Location: Vung Tao, Vietnam
- 8 days: 8 March 2022 to 14 March 2022
- Container (cellular) / GRT 25305
- Fire/FiFi Operations/ Fire Overhaul Duties
- Vung Tao, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
While underway along the coast of Vietnam, a 3,000 TEU container ship reported a fire within its forward deck containers. Following instructions from the owners and their insurers, Resolve Marine mobilized a salvage team from Singapore, complemented by local Vietnamese salvors and firefighters. With the timely intervention of the salvage team, the fire was restricted from spreading further aft and brought under control. When the fire was declared extinguished, the vessel was approved for berthing and discharge at a terminal in Vung Tau.
For more information, go to www.resolvemarine.com
