Watch the video of American Marine Firefighters

The 22nd Marine Firefighting Symposium was held in Hampton Roads, US in May 2013. A large scale exercise took place aboard a huge vessel moored with the “Ghost Fleet” in the James River.The scenario: there is trouble aboard the cargo ship Cape Johnson. Orange smoke is escaping from one of the compartments and the Captain is worried about the well being of his crew. Watch the clip and read more about the symposium on the Wavy website.

MIRG EX is an international joint partnership. Safety Region Zeeland (NL), which brings together crisis management, fire fighters and medical assistance, is lead partner. The other partners in the project are: the Fire Brigades of Antwerp, Beveren and Ghent (BE). These brigades are linked to important international ports, that accommodate large chemical production plants. Being able to effectively fight fires on board ships is simply essential. In addition to the fire brigades, the Federal Organisation of Public Civil Assistance in Brugge, the Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services-Shipping Assistance Division and the Maatschappij van de Brugse Zeehaven nv (Zeebrugge Port Authority) are partners in the MIRG-EX project. The French Service départemental d’incendie et de secours de Pas-de-Calais and the English Kent Fire and Rescue Service complete the partnership. Both are confronted with heavy traffic on the Channel and the North Sea. An incident may be just around the corner, but this doesn’t mean it can be easily reached let alone be dealt with. Working with similar teams on both shores, reduces will help to reduce response time.