Multiple Cargo Ships Caught Fire at the Same Time, Killing Three People 同一时间！多起货船起火！三人死亡！

Image Credit: The Internet, a picture of a Korean cargo ship fire accident in 2023

图片源于网络，为2023年韩国籍货船起火事故图

On the afternoon of December 21st, a self-ignition accident occurred on a cargo ship in the Suqian section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. A thousand-ton cargo ship carrying 4 tons of diesel and 3 gas cylinders suddenly caught fire, with a rapid spread and billowing smoke on the scene.

According to relevant media reports, the ship owner revealed that the cargo ship, worth over one million yuan with a load capacity of 1700 tons, is suspected to have caught fire due to aged electrical wiring on the ship or wires chewed by rats.

On December 21st, the Changshu City Water Search and Rescue Center issued a situation report stating that on the evening of the 20th, an explosion occurred on a cargo ship in Haiyu Town, Changshu City, Suzhou, Jiangsu, resulting in 3 deaths and 1 person missing. After an emergency rescue, the fire was extinguished in the early morning of the 21st.

Coincidentally, also on December 21, 2023, in the same section of the Yangtze River in Changshu, a ship caught fire. A South Korean ship, empty and traveling downstream in the Changshu section of the Yangtze River, caught fire and exploded. There were 22 people on board, and the ship was not carrying any cargo. All 22 people were rescued, and no secondary accidents such as leakage or pollution occurred.

The fire on the cargo ship in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is highly likely to have been caused by rats gnawing on electrical wires. Rats, with their strong vitality, are distributed in every corner of the city and can even be found on some large ships, posing a significant threat to the ships.

12月21日下午，京杭大运河宿迁段发生一起货船自燃事故。一艘载有4吨柴油和3瓶煤气罐的千吨级货船突然起火，火势迅猛，现场浓烟滚滚。

相关媒体报道称，据船主透露，货船价值100多万元，核载量1700吨，此次火灾疑似因船只电气线路老化，或老鼠撕咬电线引发的。

12月21日，常熟市水上搜救中心发布情况通报称，20日晚江苏苏州常熟市海虞镇一货船发生爆炸，事故造成3人死亡，1人失联。经过紧急救援，21日凌晨，火被扑灭。

无独有偶，同样是2023年12月21日，同样是长江常熟段，发生过一起船舶起火事件。一艘韩国籍船舶空载下行至长江常熟段水域时船舶起火爆燃，在船人员22人，船上未载货。22人悉数获救，未造成泄漏、污染等次生事故。

京杭大运河的货船起火极有可能是老鼠啃咬电线造成，老鼠生命力顽强，分布在城市的每个角落，甚至是在一些大型船舶上也有老鼠，对船舶的威胁非常大。

Proofing against Rats on Ship

船舶老鼠防护

Why are rats so detrimental to ships?

1.Huge safety hazards

Rats on ships could potentially cause the ship to sink. In the Age of Discovery, ships were generally made of wood, which could easily be gnawed by rats. Once gnawed, it could lead to holes in the ship, resulting in sinking.

However, although modern ships are generally made of steel, there are still some soft materials on the ship, such as the ropes used to tie lifebuoys. More importantly, there are electronic devices on the ship. If the wires are chewed and the electronic devices fail to work, the ship will not be able to discern direction at sea, which could even lead to accidents.

In addition, rats carry many microorganisms, which could potentially cause plague, posing a great threat to the safety and health of the crew.

2.Port management refuses to dock, even demanding fines

Port management regards rats on ships as invasive species, thus refusing to allow them to dock. Once invasive species proliferate and cause disasters, it can lead to significant trouble.

船舶为何非常忌讳老鼠存在？

1、巨大安全隐患

船舶上的老鼠有可能会造成船舶沉没。在大航海时代，船舶的制作原材料一般都是木材，这种材料很容易被老鼠咬烂。一旦老鼠啃咬，就有可能会导致船舶穿洞，从而导致沉没。

然而，虽然现代船舶一般都用钢铁制造，但是船上仍存在一些缆绳等比较柔软的物质，例如绑定救生圈的绳子。更重要的是船舶上的电子设备，如若被咬断电线，电子设备无法正常工作，就会导致船舶在海面无法辨别方向，甚至造成事故。

另外，老鼠身上会携带许多微生物，有可能会引发鼠疫，对船员的安全和健康造成极大的威胁。

2、港口管理拒绝停靠，甚至要求罚款

港口管理会将船舶上的老鼠视为外来入侵物种，从而拒绝其停靠。一旦入侵物种泛滥成灾，便会引起非常大的麻烦。

How do rats enter ships?

There are many ways for rats to enter ships, mainly divided into the following three:

1.Boarding with goods

If the ship is large, it is difficult for the crew to inspect carefully when loading goods, and generally, the goods are transported to the ship in large boxes. If rats are hiding in these boxes, it is difficult for the crew to discover them.

2.Boarding with ropes

When ships dock, they generally use ropes to tie the port and the ship's body to prevent the ship from moving, and these ropes are usually the channels for rats to climb onto the ship. Some rats can swim, and they may also go down into the sea and then board the ship through the ship's anchor chain.

3.Boarding along water or fuel pipes

Ships generally need to store fresh water or fuel, but due to the large size of the ship, the replenishment of fresh water or fuel will not be completed in a short time, and there are few people watching during this process, so rats may board the ship along the water or fuel pipes.

老鼠如何进入船舶？

老鼠进入船舶的方式有很多，主要分为以下三种：

1、跟随货物上船

如果船舶较大，船员在装载货物时，很难做到仔细检查，一般都是整箱货物集中运到船上。若有老鼠藏在这些箱子里，船员很难发现。

2、随着缆绳上船

船舶在靠岸时，一般会利用缆绳绑定港口与船体，不让船体移动，而这些缆绳通常就是老鼠爬上船舶的通道。有些老鼠会游泳，它们也可能会下到海中，然后通过船舶的抛锚链上船。

3、沿着水管或油管上船

船舶基本上都是要储备淡水或燃料，但由于船体太大，所以补充淡水或燃料并不会在短时间之内完成，而且在这个过程中，很少有专人看护，因此老鼠就有可能沿着水管或燃料的油管上船。

How to deal with rats on the ship?

1.Use rat guards on ropes

Some rats enter the ship along the ropes on the ship. To solve the problem at the source, “rings” can be placed on the ropes, which are commonly referred to as “rat guards” (as shown in the figure).

Image Credit: The Internet

图片来自于网络

These rat guards are generally funnel-shaped, and the funnel mouth is facing outward. When rats climb up along the rope, they cannot continue to climb up when they encounter this rat guard because the rat guard is relatively smooth, and rats cannot exert force at all.

2.Use rat glue or thermal imaging and other technologies

Some rats enter the ship's body with food or goods, and some even enter along the pipes. Therefore, rat glue or thermal imaging technology and other complementary technologies can also be used to solve the rat problem.

Not only is there the threat of rats, but also various risks are easily encountered during the voyage. If danger is encountered during the voyage, it is also necessary to master the use of signals.

如何处置船上的老鼠？

1、在缆绳上用防鼠档

有部分老鼠沿着船上的缆绳进入船舶，为从源头上解决问题，可以在缆绳上放置一些“圆圈”，也就是常说的“防鼠档”。（如图）

这种防鼠档一般都是呈现一个喇叭型，而且这个喇叭口还向着外面，当老鼠沿着缆绳爬上来时，遇到这个防鼠档就无法继续往上，因为这个防鼠档比较光滑，老鼠根本就无法着力。

2、用老鼠贴或者热成像等技术

还有一部分老鼠会随着食物或货物进入船体，甚至还会沿着管道进入。所以还可以采用老鼠贴或热成像技术等多种技术互补来解决老鼠的问题。

不仅仅是老鼠的威胁，其实在航行过程中，极容易遭受各种风险，如果在航行过程中遇到危险，还要熟练掌握信号的使用。

Ship Signals

船舶信号

When ships sail at sea, if they encounter extreme weather such as fog and strong waves, or in complex and changeable working environments, various unexpected accidents may occur at any time, threatening the safety of the ship and the crew. To prevent serious consequences and minimize losses, it is necessary to develop a set of effective emergency plans, and the crew must be familiar with emergency signals and master emergency equipment.

船舶在海上航行，如果遇到浓雾、大风浪等极端天气，或是在作业环境复杂多变的地方，随时可能发生各种意想不到的事故，使船舶和船员人身安全受到威胁，为防止产生严重后果，把损失减到最低程度，必须制定一套行之有效的应急部署，同时船员必须熟悉应变信号和掌握应变设备。

Classification of ship emergency signals

船舶应变信号分类

Emergency signals are only used in emergency situations on ships and are generally issued by whistles, alarms, and ship bells, controlled by the ship's deck officers. The unified emergency signals in China can be divided into two categories: emergency alarm signals and alarm cancellation signals.

Emergency alarm signals include the abandon ship signal (6 short 1 long, whistled or alarmed for 1 minute), water ingress signal (2 long 1 short, whistled or alarmed for 1 minute), man overboard signal (3 long), and fire signal (many short, random bell or short whistle for 1 minute, then specify the exact location of the fire with the number of ship bell rings).

Alarm cancellation signal (1 long, alarmed or whistled continuously for 6 seconds or announced by order).

应变信号仅适用于船舶应变场合，一般用汽笛、警报器、船钟施放，由船舱驾驶员控制。我国统一的应变信号可分为险情警报信号和解除警报信号两类。

险情警报信号包括弃船信号（6短1长，用汽笛或警报器连放1分钟）、进水堵漏信号（2长1短，用汽笛或警报器连放1分钟）、人员落水信号（3长）和救火信号（多短，乱钟或连放短声汽笛1分钟后，另以船钟次数指明火灾的具体位置）。

解除警报信号（1长，用警报器或汽笛连续放6秒或以口令宣布）。

In addition, there are pyrotechnic signals, also known as intuitive signals or distress signals, used when ships are in danger. They can produce smoke, sound, or light and are collectively referred to as various pyrotechnics used as signals for assistance and rescue. Commonly used pyrotechnic signals include red flare parachute signal for ships, red flare signals for ship, and orange smoke signals for ship.

1.Red flare parachute signal for ships

Launch height 300M, light intensity 30000 candela, burning time 40 seconds, storage and use temperature 35-65℃, valid for 3 years.

Image Credit: The Internet

图片来自于网络

2.Red flare signals for ship

Light intensity 15000 candela, burning time 60 seconds, storage and use temperature 35-65℃, valid for 3 years.

Image Credit: The Internet

图片来自于网络

3.Orange smoke signals for ship

Continuous smoke time 3 minutes, visible distance 2 nautical miles, storage and use temperature 30-65℃, valid for 3 years.

Image Credit: The Internet

图片来自于网络

此外，还有烟火信号，烟火信号又称直观信号或求救信号，供船舶遇险时使用。它能发生烟雾、声或光，是作为求援、呼救等信号用的各种烟火的总称。常用的烟火信号有船用红光降落伞信号、船用红光焰信号和船用橙色烟雾信号。

1、船用红光降落伞信号

发射高度300M，发光强度30000坎，燃烧时间40秒，保管和使用温度为35—65℃，有效期限为3年。

2、船用红光焰信号

发光强度15000坎，燃烧时间60秒，保管和使用温度为35—65℃，有效期为3年。

3、船用橙色烟雾信号

持续冒烟雾时间3分钟，可见距离2海里，保管及使用温度为30—65℃，有效期为3年。

The direct damage caused by ship fires to the ship and crew cannot be underestimated. These accidents have sounded the alarm for us. Ship safety management is a complex and arduous task that requires the joint efforts of countries and regions around the world to take comprehensive measures, strengthen safety awareness, increase safety investment, improve safety systems, and enhance emergency capabilities to effectively reduce accidents and ensure the safety and efficiency of maritime transportation, creating a safe and reliable maritime transportation environment, and protecting the life and property safety of the crew.

船舶火灾对船只和船员造成的直接损害不容小觑，这些事故给我们敲响了警钟，船舶安全管理是一项复杂而艰巨的任务，需要全球各国和地区共同努力，采取综合措施，强化安全意识，加大安全投入，完善安全制度，提高应急能力，才能有效减少事故的发生，保障海上运输的安全与高效，营造一个安全可靠的海上运输环境，守护船员的生命财产安全。

With the globalization of the economy, the shipping industry is booming, and maritime transportation is becoming increasingly busy. The number of ships is continuously increasing, and the number of crew members is also growing significantly, leading to a trend of more frequent crew rescue incidents. The importance of professional rescue platforms is becoming increasingly prominent. E-PORTS has extensive experience in crew rescue and has successfully handled many emergency rescue cases. In July this year, off the coast of Chile in the eastern Pacific, a crew member on a cargo ship suddenly fell ill. E-PORTS quickly coordinated a rescue team through digital means, arranged for the ship to dock at a nearby port, and the shore-based medical team was also ready. After the crew member disembarked, they were immediately taken to the intensive care unit for scientific treatment. Thanks to the timely rescue, the crew member finally escaped danger and returned to China smoothly before the end of July to receive further treatment.

If you need crew rescue, you can contact 400-920-8810. E-PORTS customer service is at your service 24 hours a day.

随着全球经济一体化，航运业蓬勃发展，海上运输日益繁忙，船只数量不断增加，相应的船员数量也大幅增长，这使得船员救助事件在数量上有增多趋势。专业的救助平台的重要性日益凸显，E-PORTS拥有丰富的船员救助经验，曾成功处理多起紧急救助案件，今年7月在东太平洋智利沿岸，一艘货船上1名船员突发急病，E-PORTS通过数字手段，迅速协调救援团队，就近安排该船紧急停泊港口，岸上医疗团队也已准备就位，船员上岸后并第一时间送入重症监护室进行科学治疗。经过及时的救助，这名船员终于脱离了危险，并在7月底前顺利返回中国，接受后续治疗。

如果需要船员救助，您可联系400-920-8810，E-PORTS客服7*24小时为您服务！