Iron Chieftain's Emergency Contingency Plan did not include a response plan to fire in the high fire risk self-unloading system spaces. Consequently, there was no clear plan or practiced sequence of actions that could aid emergency preparedness.
The development of ship-specific emergency contingency plans for responding to fire in the self-unloading system spaces should provide a useful framework to build and improve upon. These plans, exercised in conjunction with regular and realistic emergency drills, should adequately address this safety issue.
On 18 February 2021, Canada Steamship Lines Australia (CSL Australia) advised the ATSB that CSL Australia continued to develop emergency contingency plans specific to SUL ships as part of a continued improvement of its safety management system. In an update on 9 March 2021, CSL Australia confirmed that ship-specific emergency contingency plans for responding to fires in the self-unloading system spaces had been developed and implemented across the organisation’s SUL ships.
