Fire on Aurora

We are cruising on Aurora at the end of the year & i cant say this gives me much confidence. Firstly i know cruise companies like to do repairs on the run but surely any sort of fire will have caused all kinds of issues and i dont like the idea of just putting the fire out then carrying on like nothing has happened. Secondly this doesnt seem to be a one off so if it isnt fixed thoroughly the chances are it will happen again & there will be a lot of unhappy passengers if we have to miss out ports because of ongoing faults related to this.

The costs of not putting safety first are so great I don't think P&O would take risks.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are cruising on Aurora at the end of the year & i cant say this gives me much confidence. Firstly i know cruise companies like to do repairs on the run but surely any sort of fire will have caused all kinds of issues and i dont like the idea of just putting the fire out then carrying on like nothing has happened. Secondly this doesnt seem to be a one off so if it isnt fixed thoroughly the chances are it will happen again & there will be a lot of unhappy passengers if we have to miss out ports because of ongoing faults related to this.

I have to say that I have the opposite view to that. For the ship to be running at full steam just an hour after the fire it would suggest that it wasn't a major fire and everything was shut down as a precaution until it was extinguished and everything confirmed to be safe. Whilst there is definite evidence of cost cutting on P&O these days (note - fares are also lower), this does not seem to be the case when it comes to safety and maintenance, which are, in my experience, exemplary. If anything, P&O are a bit over the top when it comes to anything remotely safety related and there is no way that they would cut corners. Any permanent repairs needed following this incident will either be carried out on a changeover day (if possible to do quickly) or as running repairs (if possible). Anything more serious, or in need of a dry dock, would result in a cruise being cancelled altogether rather than a port being missed. I am unsure whether or not your Aurora cruise is your first, but the senior ships crew are superb and I would never have any concerns for my safety when they are in command of any ship that I am on.

Glad it's all turned out OK, must have been rather scary at the time!

We are on Aurora for 65 nights next year and I have no concerned about the safety of the ship. All cruise ships, apart from being in dock for a refit, are at sea 24/7. If a ship really did have a major problem that couldn't be sorted out when the ship was in service I have no doubt that ship would be taken out of service to be sorted and cruises would be cancelled. All P&O Captains will tell you that safety is their first priority and I have no reason to doubt that.

We are on Aurora for 65 nights next year and I have no concerned about the safety of the ship. All cruise ships, apart from being in dock for a refit, are at sea 24/7. If a ship really did have a major problem that couldn't be sorted out when the ship was in service I have no doubt that ship would be taken out of service to be sorted and cruises would be cancelled. All P&O Captains will tell you that safety is their first priority and I have no reason to doubt that.

Me too - 65 nights that is.

I also understand that press reports of this incident are greatly exaggerated!

We are on Aurora for 65 nights next year and I have no concerned about the safety of the ship. All cruise ships, apart from being in dock for a refit, are at sea 24/7. If a ship really did have a major problem that couldn't be sorted out when the ship was in service I have no doubt that ship would be taken out of service to be sorted and cruises would be cancelled. All P&O Captains will tell you that safety is their first priority and I have no reason to doubt that.

You are correct the ship would be taken out of service. We were on a Princess ship a number of years ago in the Med she it had a problem that they could not fix while we in port. When we got back after the day ashore the captain told us about the problem and said that we would miss the remaining ports. We were taken to Triest on the ship where the ship went into dry dock. We were very impressed with Princess's handling of the situation, it was July and we were all booked into hotels in or around Venice for the remainder of our holiday we were scheduled to have the last 2 days of the cruise in Venice. We were also very well compensated for missing 2 ports and not having the ship in Venice.

Any suggestion of a dangerous mechanical situation must result in the ship being kept in port for as long as it takes o make it 100% safe. One hour is a long time for a fire to burn a lot of damage can be done in a very short time to machinery such as generators. If a main generator is damaged it is not acceptable to put to sea before it is fixed irrespective of potential missed cruises.

Any suggestion of a dangerous mechanical situation must result in the ship being kept in port for as long as it takes o make it 100% safe. One hour is a long time for a fire to burn a lot of damage can be done in a very short time to machinery such as generators. If a main generator is damaged it is not acceptable to put to sea before it is fixed irrespective of potential missed cruises.

Totally agree,safety must come first.

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

Me too - 65 nights that is.

 

 

 

I also understand that press reports of this incident are greatly exaggerated!

Ummm maybe, but an informed source told me that the start of the fire was captured on cctv and that it occurred when the engine room alternator exploded and there was a flash fire. Further, I was told that had anyone been present at the time they would not have survived. The response to this was emergency FULL crew alert, the first for some who had been at sea for 15 years, and trained and very brave firefighters to extinguish the blaze. This was no small incident but fortunately it was contained, do not underestimate the seriousness of these situations.

Bal

Ummm maybe, but an informed source told me that the start of the fire was captured on cctv and that it occurred when the engine room alternator exploded and there was a flash fire. Further, I was told that had anyone been present at the time they would not have survived. The response to this was emergency FULL crew alert, the first for some who had been at sea for 15 years, and trained and very brave firefighters to extinguish the blaze. This was no small incident but fortunately it was contained, do not underestimate the seriousness of these situations.

Bal

It sounds serious enough to me and it concerns me because we all know cruise companies don’t like to pull ships out of circulation because of the money they will lose. Yes they will be in deep trouble if something serious happens but I get the opinion as long as they can stick a plaster over the injury to limp on they will do so. A fire will cause weak points wherever it has spread to and beyond.

It sounds serious enough to me and it concerns me because we all know cruise companies don’t like to pull ships out of circulation because of the money they will lose. Yes they will be in deep trouble if something serious happens but I get the opinion as long as they can stick a plaster over the injury to limp on they will do so. A fire will cause weak points wherever it has spread to and beyond.

I agree I'm glad everybody is ok on the present trip, but it doesn't fill me with much confidence as we are on the next trip on Tuesday from Southampton.

From what I read this is the 2nd serious engine fire on Aurora in the last 2 months. something must be wrong.

Re Aurora Fire

We were on board

Captain and all crew Fantastic Job

ship is back with everything running smoothly after a short delay

No panic well done everyone

Re Aurora Fire

We were on board

Captain and all crew Fantastic Job

ship is back with everything running smoothly after a short delay

No panic well done everyone

Yes they did and mostly no panic though folk were seen going to the 'grab and go' and emptying the shelves of the sandwich selection and anything else they could lay their hands on. The fact of the matter is though that there was a serious fire on-board the Aurora which is a ship which has been plagued with engine room problem from the outset. Many cruises have been cancelled including a World Cruise due to these problems. Aurora is a lovely ship, super passengers and great crew but I'm not totally convinced it couldn't happen again. Nice gesture with the bottle of wine, but we were bobbing around mid Atlantic for an hour without power! What if we had been hit by the hurricanes that were whizzing around at the time .. ummm doesn't bear thinking about.

I just found this thread, as I don't peruse the P&O forum regularly. The reason that the ship went black is that one of the major firefighting systems in ship's engine rooms is a CO2 blanket system. If the CO2 was released, and if it was appeared to be a serious fire on the CCTV, then it probably was, the CO2 displaces all oxygen in the engine room, and the engines all stop, blacking the ship out. The fire would be extinguished almost immediately, but it is typical to allow about 30 minutes for the CO2 to be in place before the space is ventilated and crew can enter and restart the generators. So, the fire may not have been burning for an hour, that may either be how long it was before the fire teams investigated all areas and determined that there was no danger of reflash, or how long it took to ventilate the engine room and restart the engines.

I just found this thread, as I don't peruse the P&O forum regularly. The reason that the ship went black is that one of the major firefighting systems in ship's engine rooms is a CO2 blanket system. If the CO2 was released, and if it was appeared to be a serious fire on the CCTV, then it probably was, the CO2 displaces all oxygen in the engine room, and the engines all stop, blacking the ship out. The fire would be extinguished almost immediately, but it is typical to allow about 30 minutes for the CO2 to be in place before the space is ventilated and crew can enter and restart the generators. So, the fire may not have been burning for an hour, that may either be how long it was before the fire teams investigated all areas and determined that there was no danger of reflash, or how long it took to ventilate the engine room and restart the engines.

I read your posts on RC and they are extremely helpful.

We also sail P&O and a lot of people will be very grateful for your invaluable input.

Thank you again.

Graham.

UK D+ member.

I just found this thread, as I don't peruse the P&O forum regularly. The reason that the ship went black is that one of the major firefighting systems in ship's engine rooms is a CO2 blanket system. If the CO2 was released, and if it was appeared to be a serious fire on the CCTV, then it probably was, the CO2 displaces all oxygen in the engine room, and the engines all stop, blacking the ship out. The fire would be extinguished almost immediately, but it is typical to allow about 30 minutes for the CO2 to be in place before the space is ventilated and crew can enter and restart the generators. So, the fire may not have been burning for an hour, that may either be how long it was before the fire teams investigated all areas and determined that there was no danger of reflash, or how long it took to ventilate the engine room and restart the engines.

Interesting, but why was the Captain so full of praise for the firefighting team that entered the area and extinguished the fire. Why not say that we were out of danger as the CO2 had extinguished the fire immediately and we were just waiting for the area to ventilate and then we will be on our way after repairs.

It really is pointless, albeit quite good fun, to speculate on these sort of incidents, there are lots of similar incidents happening every day in industrial companies throughout the country where the safety systems are no where near as rigorous as on a ship.

Heavy machinery operating at high temps and electrical equipment go together to create problems, I am just grateful that P&O have systems in place and crew trained to prevent them from becoming major disasters.

Interesting, but why was the Captain so full of praise for the firefighting team that entered the area and extinguished the fire. Why not say that we were out of danger as the CO2 had extinguished the fire immediately and we were just waiting for the area to ventilate and then we will be on our way after repairs.

By affirming that the crew had saved the day as opposed to an automatic fire suppression system: the crew feel valued and good about themselves, the passengers feel the crew are excellent. A happier ambience will more likely ensue. Images of waiters wrestling fire hoses in a blacked out hell hole and triumphing will make people give bigger tips at the end of the cruise. Savvy waiters will have singed hair and not want to talk about it. I tip him £100.

Regards John

By affirming that the crew had saved the day as opposed to an automatic fire suppression system: the crew feel valued and good about themselves, the passengers feel the crew are excellent. A happier ambience will more likely ensue. Images of waiters wrestling fire hoses in a blacked out hell hole and triumphing will make people give bigger tips at the end of the cruise. Savvy waiters will have singed hair and not want to talk about it. I tip him £100.

 

Regards John

Yes, also that the fire teams most likely spent a good deal of time on SCBA inside the CO2 filled space, breathing on their own air systems, in near total darkness, in a space that they most likely have only trained in occasionally, and fully lit, and searched in every nook and cranny, behind every piece of machinery and wireway looking for potential "hotspots" that could reflash if air were present. One reason the Carnival Splendor fire was so bad was the Captain kept ventilating the space too soon in an apparent wish to restore power for the passengers, and the fire reflashed twice, causing more damage each time.

Also, while I tend to regard the CO2 system as a last resort in most engine room fire scenarios, because you will lose all power for fighting a fire, except minimal lighting and one small fire pump, in the case of a possible electrical fire from a 10,000 volt alternator, CO2 is just about the only way to minimize damage to the rest of the electrical system, and quick realization of this on the part of the engine room crew is salutary. It also sounds like the emergency generator did not come on right away, which is worrying, but without that there would only be a few battery lights in the engine room, and no power for fire pumps, so CO2 would again have been the right choice.

Yes, also that the fire teams most likely spent a good deal of time on SCBA inside the CO2 filled space, breathing on their own air systems, in near total darkness, in a space that they most likely have only trained in occasionally, and fully lit, and searched in every nook and cranny, behind every piece of machinery and wireway looking for potential "hotspots" that could reflash if air were present. One reason the Carnival Splendor fire was so bad was the Captain kept ventilating the space too soon in an apparent wish to restore power for the passengers, and the fire reflashed twice, causing more damage each time.

 

Also, while I tend to regard the CO2 system as a last resort in most engine room fire scenarios, because you will lose all power for fighting a fire, except minimal lighting and one small fire pump, in the case of a possible electrical fire from a 10,000 volt alternator, CO2 is just about the only way to minimize damage to the rest of the electrical system, and quick realization of this on the part of the engine room crew is salutary. It also sounds like the emergency generator did not come on right away, which is worrying, but without that there would only be a few battery lights in the engine room, and no power for fire pumps, so CO2 would again have been the right choice.

Great reply. Thank god we were not hit by the hurricane which we were motoring around.

Great reply. Thank god we were not hit by the hurricane which we were motoring around.

Given that hurricanes only travel at 10-15 mph I very much doubt if you were in the remotest danger.

Yes, also that the fire teams most likely spent a good deal of time on SCBA inside the CO2 filled space, breathing on their own air systems, in near total darkness, in a space that they most likely have only trained in occasionally, and fully lit, and searched in every nook and cranny, behind every piece of machinery and wireway looking for potential "hotspots" that could reflash if air were present. One reason the Carnival Splendor fire was so bad was the Captain kept ventilating the space too soon in an apparent wish to restore power for the passengers, and the fire reflashed twice, causing more damage each time.

 

Also, while I tend to regard the CO2 system as a last resort in most engine room fire scenarios, because you will lose all power for fighting a fire, except minimal lighting and one small fire pump, in the case of a possible electrical fire from a 10,000 volt alternator, CO2 is just about the only way to minimize damage to the rest of the electrical system, and quick realization of this on the part of the engine room crew is salutary. It also sounds like the emergency generator did not come on right away, which is worrying, but without that there would only be a few battery lights in the engine room, and no power for fire pumps, so CO2 would again have been the right choice.

We are very fortunate to have a chief engineer on board CC.

Thanks again for the information.

UK D+ member.

By affirming that the crew had saved the day as opposed to an automatic fire suppression system: the crew feel valued and good about themselves, the passengers feel the crew are excellent. A happier ambience will more likely ensue. Images of waiters wrestling fire hoses in a blacked out hell hole and triumphing will make people give bigger tips at the end of the cruise. Savvy waiters will have singed hair and not want to talk about it. I tip him £100.

 

Regards John

That made me smile John! It also reminded me of the two occasions at Monaco when the crew made a complete horlicks of the return tender operation in a heavy swell, sending full tenders out of the calm harbour to be thrown around for 20 minutes making everyone sick, rather than keeping passengers waiting on terra firma and dispatching each tender in a timely manner when a docking berth on the ship was just about to become free. In order to stave off the inevitable complaints from those of us who could see that there was a far smarter way of doing things, the Captain came on the PA system commending the crew for the operation (subtext being 'so passengers, be grateful and don't complain'). In all seriousness though, it looks as though the Aurora crew handled the fire very well (as you would expect) and chengkp75's explanations, from someone who clearly understands this issue, were very interesting.

That made me smile John! It also reminded me of the two occasions at Monaco when the crew made a complete horlicks of the return tender operation in a heavy swell, sending full tenders out of the calm harbour to be thrown around for 20 minutes making everyone sick, rather than keeping passengers waiting on terra firma and dispatching each tender in a timely manner when a docking berth on the ship was just about to become free. In order to stave off the inevitable complaints from those of us who could see that there was a far smarter way of doing things, the Captain came on the PA system commending the crew for the operation (subtext being 'so passengers, be grateful and don't complain'). In all seriousness though, it looks as though the Aurora crew handled the fire very well (as you would expect) and chengkp75's explanations, from someone who clearly understands this issue, were very interesting.

His the best i always read his posts on RC.

UK D+ member.