Emergency Contact Bulletin: Yacht fire safety awareness while docked in a marina Home Latest updates Publications Bulletin: Yacht fire safety awareness while docked in a marina 29 Nov 2016 Download page as PDF Sign up for alerts In the past year, several high-value yachts have caught fire while docked inside a marina. Fortunately, so far, no casualties have been reported. However, some of the yachts were either a complete loss or suffered thousands of Euros in damages. When any yacht catches fire inside a marina there is a very high risk that the fire will spread rapidly to adjacent yachts. Therefore, fire safety awareness and the mindfulness of crew on board should not only be limited to their own yacht but also to surrounding yachts while docked inside a marina. What are the risks? During the winter season most yachts will scale down in crew size or some yacht owners will decide to leave their yacht in the marina without crew. This reduction in manning level should always be carried out in conjunction and with the approval of the vessel’s certifying authority. Yachts docked without any crew on board are left without any regular fire safety watch. In addition, some of the older and smaller yachts might not have automatic fire suppression systems (e.g. high fog, FM-200, Novec) and therefore are at high risk of catching fire. Causes of yacht fires can come from numerous places, some of the major causes include: Defective or overloaded electrical wires/circuits equipment Burning cigarettes Defective fuel/gas fired boilers-heaters Leaking fuel or gas lines Overloaded laundry dryers Hot surfaces like portable electrical heaters, halogen lamps, cooking equipment, laundry irons in combination with flammable, combustible or explosive materials, liquids or oily rags Arson Recommended precautions Detailed below are some recommended practical precautions that owners, managers and crew should follow to prevent fires: Crew members or an external care taker should keep a regular