Marine fire extinguisher

Fire extinguishers should always be present on any boat or cruiser because it may be difficult to extinguish fires caused from onboard engines, cooking systems or heating/cooling systems on the boat. In addition, being away from land, it can get challenging to extinguish these fires using available infrastructure onboard. Thus marine fire extinguishers are a must have in such emergencies. In fact, many countries require the presence of a marine fire extinguisher by law on all such boats and marine vehicles.

There are a variety of marine fire extinguishers out there, each one designed for specific purposes depending on the need, size of the boat and possible sources of fires. However, on a small boat, dry chemical fire extinguishers are most effective as they can tackle most possible cases of a fire. It is worth remembering that water cannot be used to extinguish electric fires or fires spread on vegetable oils.

On large boats, there may be a requirement of several fire extinguishers on the boat. For example, there should be one specialized kitchen fire extinguisher to take care of fires emanating from the kitchen. In addition, there should be one in the engine room.

As general safety norms, the passengers in the boat should be aware of where the fire extinguishers are placed in the boat. This is very important to ensure the safety of passengers in case of a fire emergency. This also helps in controlling fires that can otherwise become too big and spread rapidly.