Fire at sea! Southampton Airport helps seafarers stay safe

A raging inferno breaking out on a vessel miles from land with vulnerable crew and passengers at risk of drowning and death.

Now the disaster is dramatically being played out in Southampton as part of a new lifesaving crash course to equip maritime workers with vital skills needed to tackle perils on the high seas.

Fighting ferocious fires, rescuing injured casualties from smoke-logged cabins and giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation are among the skills taught on the pioneering course.

Now organisers OMT Maritime Career Training are urging aspiring seafarers to sign up and demonstrate to employers they have what it takes to stay safe at sea. It comes ahead of changes in legislation requiring maritime sector workers to complete accredited safety courses before they can take to the water.

Disaster training is difficult to facilitate at working ports and harbours, so the firm has teamed up with Southampton Airport to utilise its vast space and onsite fire brigade.

It also enables participants from across the globe to fly in for training quickly and easily.

The five-day STCW Basic Training course, accredited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), features modules in firefighting and prevention, first aid and personal safety and awareness.

The week climaxes with a dramatic mission in a mocked up trailer rig fitted with corridors and stairs where students must rescue a dummy from a smokelogged cabin and operate fire hoses, jets and extinguishers.

One of the days features a water rescue and life-raft training session held at nearby Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh.

The course has been tailored for professionals, prospective workers and those wanting to further their career and is a requirement for crews working on vessels longer than 24 metres.

From 2017 all maritime workers will have to renew their health and safety qualifications every five years.

Those taking part in this week’s new course included deck hands, facilities managers and even a cruise ship singer.

But it is also ideal for those working in the oil and gas and offshore wind farm industry.

OMT managing director Graeme Johnston said: “We realised there was a niche in the market for quality training.

“We believe that this new site will be the gateway and a training hub to many maritime companies and individuals in the UK and further afield. It’s about being able to be aware of safety at sea whether it is on huge cruise liners or on pleasure boats out on the Solent.”

Airport fire service crew commander Mark Beaudro said fighting fires at sea held extra perils in evacuating people safely and ensuring firefighting activity does not destabilise the ship.

He said: “You don’t have the support of local fire authorities and you could be days away from help. You’ve got to make sure you know what you are doing and ensure the passengers are safe.

“We are giving them the confidence to use the equipment and giving them life skills.”

"This was a serious business"

HAVE always fancied myself as a firefighter.

Getting kitted up in the heavyweight gear and operating specialist equipment initially seemed like fun. But approaching searing 5ft flames fanned by swirling winds just yards from Southampton Airport runway filled me with trepidation.

Imagine being faced by the same thing at close quarters in a ship’s cabin in the middle of the ocean.

The drill started with putting out a relatively routine waste paper basket fire with an ordinary water fire extinguisher, which proved heavier than first anticipated, but simple enough.

Trickier was tackling a larger tray of burning liquid kerosene fuel with foam and powder extinguishers.

The wind caused the flames to spread sideways and sometimes reignite after they were doused.

Finally we put out a burning television with a CO2 extinguisher – being warned not to use them at close quarters to crew or passengers as the gas sprayed out at -78°C can be harmful to inhale.

Tony Keth-Walther, 20, from Woolston, who works as a deckhand for MDL Marina in Ocean Village, was among the course participants.

He said: “It’s been really fun and I have learned a lot from the fire safety and first aid and they are life skills you need.”