BY LARRY TROJAK
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In the past decade alone, the Port of Corpus Christi, on the Gulf Coast of Texas, has grown steadily as a major import/export center. In that time, tonnage through the port has risen from 69 million tons/year to a peak of nearly 90 million tons/year in 1998. Nearly 90 percent of the cargo passing through the port is liquid in nature. By extension, 90 percent of the vessels coming into and leaving the port are tankers or barges hauling a host of potentially flammable liquids, including crude oil, fuel oil, gasoline, naphtha, and diesel fuel. To ensure the safety of those vessels and their personnel and the harbor area, the Port recently put into service the Port of Corpus Christi, a barge-like vessel with equipment designed to maximize the Port Authority’s firefighting response function. The $3 million vessel was christened on January 6, 2000, and placed into service in February 2000.
ASSESSING NEEDS
To determine how to best meet its firefighting needs, the Port of Corpus Christi began planning for the new vessel in 1993, when it convened a number of panels to survey and evaluate techniques and equipment used at similar facilities. Based on those studies, says Tony Alejandro, deputy director of operation for the Port Authority, it was determined that a one-of-a-kind vessel was needed. “We felt our needs differed from other areas that have marine-based firefighting capabilities,” Alejandro noted. He cited as an example that the Port did not want a vessel that housed a firefighting crew around the clock, which would necessitate the in-corporation of quarters, a galley, bathroom facilities, and the like, which would be expensive. The Port, he said, thought it would be far more beneficial to contract with the land-based Refinery Terminal Fire Company (RTFC) for firefighting services and “focus our efforts on a vessel that had solely performance-focused features.”
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The Port then contracted with Houston-based Schuller & Allen, Inc., naval architects, to develop the design specifications, and with shipbuilder Steiner Shipyard, Inc., of Bayou LaBatre, Louisiana, to handle the construction of the 110-foot Port of Corpus Christi.
DESIGN FEATURES AND EQUIPMENT
The Port chose the barge-type design because it provides a large, platform-like 110-foot by 30-foot work area. The firefighting system is powered by twin 660-hp Detroit Diesel AP-92 engines, which drive a pair of 4,000-gpm pumps, which, in turn, feed the Schwing articulated fire boom that has a maximum horizontal reach of 76 feet.
The three-section Schwing boom provides 90 feet of tip reach and a 400-foot stream trajectory, which will provide access to areas that previously were inaccessible, according to Alejandro. He recalls an incident in which a barge was struck by lightning. It was docked at the time, but the dock protruded far enough into the water that the flame was blocking access. The RTFC tried to contain the fire from shore but couldn’t reach the barge. With no fire boat available to the Port, much time was spent “jury rigging” a tug with the proper hoses and foam to contain the fire. The fire was brought under control only because of the shore-side support, Alejandro stresses. “The boom capability of the new vessel would have had [the fire] contained in nothing flat,” Alejandro concludes.
The vessel also has a pair of 200-hp propulsion-assist thrusters, four 2,000-gpm electrically controlled fire monitors with automatic nozzles, and two 4,000-gpm fire pumps. The pumping capacity can be doubled by adding two trailer-mounted pumps on deck. Three stainless-steel tanks, integrated into the vessel, provide storage capacities for about 14,000 gallons of foam concentrate.
The facts that the RTFC land-based fleet is equipped with Detroit Diesels and several trucks have Schwing booms also were factored in the design. The objectives were to have shore-side and marine-side equipment that was compatible and would provide consistency in the areas of maintenance and repair.
From the aspect of firefighter safety, the new vessel allows all onboard equipment to be operated at a safe distance from the fire. The firefighting team can aim, rotate, elevate, and change the fog pattern on all the nozzles from the pilot house located at the rear of the vessel. The operator, wearing radio controls, can operate and maneuver the boom without being onboard.
PROBLEM SOLVING
The new vessel will improve the Port’s level of flexibility and versatility in meeting logistically challenging situations such as reaching a burning tank onboard a tanker. The Port, explains Alejandro, also can now easily do the following:
- reach more than 60 feet into the air to access the side of a ship and pump foam into a burning tank;
- fully extend the boom 76 feet horizontally, point the nozzle straight up, and access the underside of a dock;
- pump water and foam at a range of 4,000 gpm; and
- use a Hydrochem nozzle through which foam and dry chemical can be pumped.
It has been proposed that the cost of the vessel be offset by tariffs to be imposed on each ship and barge entering the port. If the Port Commission approves the plan, it is expected that about $510,000 will be generated in calendar year 2000 alone.
LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED
Chief Alejandro cites the following lessons that were learned/reinforced in relation to the addition of Port of Corpus Christi into the Port’s fleet of firefighting units.
- Like any other new vessel or vehicle, the Port firefighters have had to take the time to break in and become familiar with the vessel.
- Some minor warranty issues had to be addressed.
- Every firefighting entity has unique conditions and needs. Other ports and firefighting entities have shown interest in the concept and design of this vessel, but it becomes immediately apparent that this may not be an option for them. The Port’s relationship with its industrial fire department enables the Port to save significant personnel costs other entities might not be able to avoid.
- Since this vessel is a barge that is propelled by an inland tow boat, it is essentially moved by professionals who do this every day. The apparatus are operated by the industrial fire department, whose members are proficient at their specific roles. Nevertheless, all the machinery is operated and training sessions are conducted on the various onboard apparatus weekly.
Training to improve communications be-tween the tug and our barge captain en-hances maneuvering skills. Stationing the barge at a particular point sounds fairly simple, but the barge has thrusters onboard that can move it by using the reactive thrust. The training comes into play, for example, in determining whether the tug wants to counteract that thrust or whether the barge captain will counteract with his own thrusters. Communication is the key.
- During the training sessions, personnel also activate the pumps and pump water, check pressures, monitor gauges, and so on. The only thing they avoid is pumping foam because it is expensive and, more importantly, it can create problems in the environment. The use of foam is reserved for the real thing. After personnel have completed practice, special fittings are put in to flush the salt water out of the fire main system, to avoid corrosion.
- The vessel is equipped to meet all Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping regulations. It is also equipped to meet the criteria specified in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1925, Standard on Marine Firefighting Vessels. Everything from ladders to pike poles to small pumps to rescue equipment to different fittings and hose sizes have been added. The vessel now carries everything you would see on a standard fire truck, and then some. Those additions alone added $75,000 to the cost-money that was not built into the initial bid.
- Most of the rules governing the use and operation of the vessel are well-established. However, the Port of Corpus Christi contracted with a consultant to put together a set of comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs). The 20-plus page document covers the following:
- policy;
- dispatch of the firefighting response vessel;
- jurisdictional boundaries;
- marine firefighting training requirements;
- incident command for various scenarios, including a ship fire, a barge fire, a fire on a vessel at the dock, a fire on a vessel out in the middle of the water, a fire within the city limits or outside the limits-all call for a different approach;
- marine fire response vessel Port of Corpus Christi’s capability and response equipment inventory;
- compensation (rates and the manner in which the Port will charge for the vessel and the personnel needed to staff it); and
- references.
LARRY TROJAK, a freelance writer based in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, heads Trojak Communications. He has written extensively for a broad range of clients in the environmental and industrial marketplace. He has written this article on behalf of Schwing America Inc.
Photos courtesy of Schwing America Inc.
