“Mike’s suffering from mild hysteria”, they said. Well, perhaps I have been, yes. The cause of my hysteria? Lithium-ion batteries and fires caused by them! There are believed to have been nearly 70 fires last year alone involving large and superyachts. As more new information on this subject comes to light on a regular basis, I simply have to come back to it time and time again and share what we know. It is a massive and worrying subject and one that is consuming the finest technical minds in the marine world right now. We all need to be aware of the phenomenon for it will not resolve any time soon. As always, I say I understand fully the need to decarbonize and embrace this technology and am not against progress. But it comes at a price and one we need to be prepared to pay. Continue reading “Are lithium-ion batteries safe on yachts – and other vessels?”
Following a recent marine casualty resulting in an engine room fire onboard a commercial fishing vessel, the US Coast Guard (
Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and the inland navigation sector, with the support of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), have collaborated with other European organisations to produce the second edition of the International Safety Guide for Inland Navigation Tank-barges and Terminals (
A recent Safety Flash published by the International Marine Contractors Association (
