DNV GL awards new fire safety notation to Gulsun series

The first vessels to be awarded the new notations are the 11 sisterships from the Gulsun class of ultralarge container vessels. The notation included a number of sub categories including HAZID (hazard detection), FF (fire fighting) and HF (Hull flooding) that exceed SOLAS requirements.

The fire-fighting notation referred to the installation of twin fire-fighting monitors atop the two islands in the 400m-long vessel’s superstructure. The monitors are capable of projecting water to cover the stacks located between the two islands on the 400m-long vessel, and can also be rotated to cover incidents in stacks at the stern and bow.

The fire-fighting monitors had been installed during the vessels’ construction. DNV GL noted that the notation took into account the specifics of individual designs and could also be applied to vessels in operation.

The new vessels are also fitted with equipment to permit the flooding of individual holds to control fire outbreaks in the underdeck area.

Knut Orbeck-Nilssen noted that the notation also included the first application of an on-deck thermal camera fire detection system. The fire detection system would help to detect outbreaks of fire before they spread widely within or between stacks.

MSC was trialling the thermal fire detection equipment about the MSC Febe, a sistership to the MSC Gulsun, and the first containership to receive the full set of FCS notations: FCS (C, HAZID, FD, FF, HF).