It troubles me once again that I feel the need to start this month’s column by raising the topic of lithium-ion battery fires, especially as the story I want to share with you is a land-based one that happened recently, and not a maritime disaster. You may know of my keen interest in this technology and the challenges surrounding it. The incident I want to speak about, and share with you, is a massive fire in the Scottish city of Glasgow. A major fire broke out in a vape shop adjacent to the city’s main railway station. Over the coming hours, the fire devastated an iconic 130-year-old Victorian building, leading to its eventual collapse, so intense was the conflagration. The images are truly shocking and resemble something one might expect to see in a war zone.
As the fire started, a passer-by good Samaritan, used his own initiative and tried to tackle the flames. He said to the press, “I ran into the shop, and I saw a small fire under the counter. There was an adapter charging system – full of chargers – and that’s where the fire was.”
The man rushed next door to the neighbouring shop to get help. He came back with a fire extinguisher, entered the burning store and tried to fight the fire. But two explosions inside the vape shop meant he had to turn around, exit and shout at passers-by to “get back”. Whilst the man’s intentions were remarkable and heroic, it should have been an immediate red flag. My advice to anyone faced with a similar situation would be never try to tackle a lithium-ion battery fire with a portable fire extinguisher; just move away to safety and call the emergency services.
And here’s my real issue. Many people remain unaware of the potential dangers that lithium-ion-powered devices present. Yes, we all have them, lots of them, and the majority are safe, but when one blows, it causes mayhem. Therefore, being aware of the risks is vitally important. The maritime sector has seen its fair share of significant fires in recent months, with yachts being destroyed, more likely than not caused by lithium-ion powered devices – (not yet substantiated or proven in some cases). That’s the suspicion, at least and in some cases, we just simply will never know because the destruction is total. Following the start of a thermal runaway event, if it results in an ensuing fire, it is the speed with which the flames spread, the intensity and the heat that are the concerns. And it is now well documented that the toxic gases released once thermal runaway activity starts, if inhaled, could be fatal.
Fortunately, there were no casualties in the Glasgow accident. Compare that to the situation if a lithium-ion battery fire took hold on board a vessel at sea. The chances of survival could be minimal, depending on how fast a liferaft or lifesaving device could be deployed.
I don’t choose to write about this topic to deliberately shock anyone, but the reality is we must all obtain a better understanding of this technology, understand the basics of what can happen and ensure we have mitigation strategies in place should the worst happen. So, I will do all I can within my power to help people gain knowledge. It almost feels like my colleagues and I are engaging in a public service duty to the maritime industry, which, I might add, we are happy to do!
Recently I was contacted by the media group that publishes Maritime Journal and organises the Seawork show with an invitation to write an article. The result was ‘Toys and lithium-ion powered devices can cause devastating marine fires’, which coincidentally was published on the very same day as the Glasgow catastrophe. If you would like to read it, just follow this link.
In other news, this is a reminder to anyone involved in the UK-based workboat sector who needs to become compliant with the Workboat Edition 3 Code by early December 2026. So concerned it seems is the MCA about the number of vessel owners and operators who have yet to bring their vessel(s) into compliance that they have issued a warning to the sector. You can read this press release in the bulletin, but certifying authorities are concerned about their capacity to process a flood of surveys/examinations in time to ensure vessels are not laid up, given there is no grace period beyond 13 December 2026. So act now is the advice.
And finally, IIMS celebrates 35 years since its foundation. Yes, happy birthday IIMS. This month, the Institute celebrates thirty-five years since its foundation in 1991. As part of our celebrations, and as a bit of fun, we have mined our extensive photograph collection and have posted upwards of 400 images taken at various IIMS events and training sessions to showcase our work over the past years. Many of these images have never seen the light of day before! Perhaps you will see photos of people you know, or you might even find yourself featured in one of the galleries! Click here to view the photo galleries.
Survey well.
Mike Schwarz