Fire Safety Management for Combustible Ship Cargo
Thematic Area: Smart Shipping
20) How might we prevent and manage fire safety risk of highly combustible cargo (e.g. lithium-ion batteries) that are transported by vessels e.g. container ships?
BACKGROUND
The electrification boom means ships are carrying unprecedented volumes of Li-Ion Batteries (LIB). These batteries are dangerously prone to thermal runaway—a self-sustaining chemical fire that does not need ambient oxygen, rendering traditional shipboard suppression (like CO2) largely useless. The core vulnerability is mis declared or non-declared cargo hidden deep within container stacks to bypass fees or restrictions.
SIGNIFICANCE OF PROBLEM
The stakes involve life, vessel survival, and massive financial liability. According to marine insurers, ship fires reached a decade-high of 250 incidents in 2024 (a 20% year-on-year increase). Crucially, even if a shipper illegally mis-declares cargo, the vessel owner still bears the ultimate liability for unseaworthiness if a catastrophic fire ensues.
For regulations, IMO’s IMDG Code Amendment 42-24 became mandatory on January 1, 2026, enforcing stricter documentation and introducing new UN numbers. Additionally, the IMO agreed on a draft workplan in early 2026 specifically for new battery ship-safety rules.
POTENTIAL MARKET SIZE
Tech-driven fire safety is now a non-discretionary spend for shipowners. The global Marine Fire Protection System Market is currently valued between $2 billion and $2.4 billion and is projected to exceed $3.2 billion by 2030–2036, growing at a CAGR of roughly 5% to 6%.
EXISTING EFFORTS
Despite new rules, physical screening remains bottlenecked by global trade volumes, and current AI manifest checks are not universally adopted. Onboard, most vessels still rely on standard smoke detectors, which only sound the alarm after thermal runaway has commenced—when it is already too late to safely suppress the fire.
Critical Gaps
The industry requires AI-driven manifest screening pre-voyage to catch misdeclarations, and IoT off-gassing sensors mid-voyage to detect cell failures before ignition. Natural Language Processing (NLP) software to audit booking data for hidden battery “synonyms,” and ruggedized Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) sensors to detect battery off gassing before thermal runaway occurs.
