Methods and Procedures including Positive Pressure Ventilation and Positive Pressure Attack on board Naval Vessels.
A discussion on studies and practical results of the Royal Swedish Navy; onboard traditional mild steel naval vessels as well as light weight composite stealth vessels.
Authors: CPO Damage Control & Sea Safety Mattias Osbäck, Naval Warfare Center, Royal Swedish Navy, Anders Trewe, Cold Cut Systems Svenska AB
Presented at the 2017 MAST Confex in Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
Tactical ventilation, both positive and negative pressure, has been used for at least two decades in civilian firefighting as an optional tool or method to clear out smoke and gain visibility, as well as mitigating hot fire gases to spread through the construction while fighting the fire.
Adding great volumes of air, under pressure, to a fire incident at sea might seem to be a dangerous and volatile venture. Is positive pressure ventilation a feasible method on board a ship, particularly on board a naval vessel? What precautions and preventive measures could or should be taken if applying positive pressure ventilation while shipboard firefighting? What other methods should be considered in combination with positive pressure ventilation in order to leverage the outcome?
Royal Swedish Navy has initiated tests and trials of combining various methods with the ambition to determine a short list of the most efficient and effective methods and method combinations. The Visby Stealth Corvette Class vessels are in addition engineered to provide dynamic ventilation solutions to various fire incident scenarios.
