PSC deficiency code 07110: Fire fighting equipment and appliances
Area 07 Fire safety
This is the code for the fire fighting gear the crew picks up and uses: portable and wheeled extinguishers, fire hoses and nozzles, hydrants, hose boxes and the international shore connection. It's the equipment inspectors see on every walk round, so it gets written up often.
What the inspector looks at
Expect the inspector to open hose boxes and lift extinguishers as they pass.
- Are extinguishers in place as shown on the fire control plan, charged, sealed and within their service date?
- Is the right type of extinguisher in the right space (for example, suitable types near electrical equipment and in the galley)?
- Are hoses complete with couplings and nozzles, free of cracks and connected or stowed ready at the hydrant?
- Do nozzles have a jet and spray setting and work when tried?
- Do hydrant valves open and close, and do they have handwheels?
- Is the international shore connection on board, complete with bolts and gasket, and stowed where the plan says?
- Are spare charges carried in the required quantity?
Common findings
- Portable fire extinguisher discharged / pressure gauge in red
- Fire extinguisher annual inspection overdue
- Fire hose damaged, coupling missing
- Fire nozzle missing / jammed
- Hydrant valve seized, handwheel missing
- International shore connection incomplete (bolts or gasket missing)
- Location of extinguishers not as per fire control plan
The rule behind it
SOLAS Chapter II-2, Regulation 10 sets requirements for fire hoses, nozzles, hydrants and portable extinguishers. The FSS Code gives the technical standards: Chapter 2 for the international shore connection and Chapter 4 for portable fire extinguishers. SOLAS II-2 Regulation 14 requires all of it to be maintained and ready for use, and the IMO maintenance guidelines for fire protection systems describe the usual inspection and service routines.
Action codes you are likely to see
Missing nozzles, a hose in the wrong place or a discharged extinguisher swapped from spares are usually closed with 10. Overdue annual servicing of extinguishers often gets 17 or 16, depending on whether a service company is available in port. Taken alone these items rarely detain a ship, but a large number of them can be read as a failure of the maintenance system and appear alongside an ISM finding. See action taken codes.
How to close it
Replace missing or damaged hoses, nozzles and couplings from spares and recharge or replace extinguishers. Annual servicing and pressure testing should be done by an approved service company, which issues a report listing each item. Update the fire equipment inventory and the planned maintenance records, and keep the service report and photos with the Form B. If items were moved, correct the fire control plan or move the equipment back. It helps to check the fire pumps and fire main at the same time, since a working hose needs pressure at the hydrant.