Fire on safari boat Suzana in Egypt (Red Sea Aggressor)

[wetb4igetinthewater]

A lot of what @Wookie said is laid out in NFPA publication 302. Whether this is an "adequate" standard is probably debatable but you really do need to dig into the materials, construction, wiring, grounding, fuel type etc etc and not just look at fire extinguishing system as a savior. If you register you can read the whole 80 page standard here
NFPA 302: Fire Protection Standard for Pleasure and Commercial Motor Craft

Its also cited in US regulations so in theory it has the force of law.

I'll be applying the principles in a foreign country, whose laws are likely more lenient than the United States. Thanks for the link. Registered and taking a peak now.

 

[rjack321]

I'll be applying the principles in a foreign country, whose laws are likely more lenient than the United States. Thanks for the link. Registered and taking a peak now.

Alternatively you can go crazy and put yourself out of business before you start and build a dive vessel to SOLAS standards.
SOLAS Chapter II-2 summary

 

[dmaziuk]

(Although: "What's more important, the servers or your employees?" can be an excellent sales pitch.)

(It so happens that I'm wiring the next rack in our server room today.)

Employees don't sit in server rooms. Too noisy, for one thing. When dry system triggers, it takes non-zero amount of time to actually fill the room and displace all oxygen. If there's an actual server fire, the magic smoke will most likely fill the room first.

Employees who don't start running out when the smell and flashes and sounds start, are probably less useful than the servers. Even if the legal system doesn't see it that way.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Alternatively you can go crazy and put yourself out of business before you start and build a dive vessel to SOLAS standards.
SOLAS Chapter II-2 summary

If @Wookie didn't go that far, neither will I. lol. But I do want to be informed.

 

[Mike Walker]

When dry system triggers, it takes non-zero amount of time to actually fill the room and displace all oxygen. If there's an actual server fire, the magic smoke will most likely fill the room first.

(psst... you're ruining the joke.... )

I did once do a project in an aircraft maintenance hanger. We were told it would fill with 6 feet of foam in 10 seconds if the system triggered. Felt it best not to investigate the accuracy of the statement.

 

[Wookie]

I'll be applying the principles in a foreign country, whose laws are likely more lenient than the United States. Thanks for the link. Registered and taking a peak now.

That’s what I’m saying. It’s exactly what I’m saying. Lax laws and loopholes and failure to follow good boat building and outfitting practices lead to cutting corners and failure to follow established safety practices outlined by the IMO in the SOLAS standards. Every boat that ever burned was built legally. It was built to do the job it did. It maybe followed all established safety requirements for its service and route.

People died, thinking they would be kept safe by some regulation.

Sorry, Kosta, you hit the nail exactly on the head.

 

[Mike Walker]

People died, thinking they would be kept safe by some regulation.

Sadly that's the story both on the water and off. Look at the Grenfell Tower in the UK - an uncomplicated high-rise in one of the most affluent cities in the world - and a death trap due to obviously dangerous and non-compliant cladding.

I interact with the construction industry in my business and the joke around my home city is 'drive-by inspections' where the building inspector pulls up to the site foreman and asks 'you did it right, right?' and then hands them the sign off. I'm regularly in meetings with people tasked with design where I'm having to ask 'how do you see this complying with code?' and getting only blank stares in return.

Between the complexity of modern materials, techniques and technologies and the matching complexity of the regulations that have been written you just end up with everyone involved taking a big gamble that they've done things 'safe enough' and that they won't be the ones caught out by the 1:1,000,000 accident.

No one has the time to do things right - and, you've rightly pointed out: most users are completely unaware.

 

[scubadada]

Alternatively you can go crazy and put yourself out of business before you start and build a dive vessel to SOLAS standards.
SOLAS Chapter II-2 summary

Like the Nautilus Explorer, I was on it, it's different than any other boat I have been on. I will likely return, if I'm lucky.

The only Nautilus boat advertised as SOLAS certified. See @Wookie post, built in Canada. I do think the registry has changed, but, for the life of me, I can't remember what it is. I saw it posted on the wall of the dining room. Maybe somewhere in the Pacific.

 

[rjack321]

That’s what I’m saying. It’s exactly what I’m saying. Lax laws and loopholes and failure to follow good boat building and outfitting practices lead to cutting corners and failure to follow established safety practices outlined by the IMO in the SOLAS standards. Every boat that ever burned was built legally. It was built to do the job it did. It maybe followed all established safety requirements for its service and route.

And it usually only gets worse when you buy a used boat or hull and convert or adapt it for diving. Some retrofits can enhance safety compared to the original design, ie adding interlinked smoke and heat detectors when they might have existed when first built. But other additional like gas powered compressors and skiffs just add volatile fuel and vapors.

Almost nobody purpose builds a boat for diving to SOLAS standards. I can't imagine having my own plans drafted, finding a shipyard, hiring my own construction representative and surveyor to oversee the construction, the upfront investment is enormous and is way worse for US flagged vessels that also have to comply with the Jones Act. The Nautilus Explorer is SOLAS certified and at least in the past was Canadian flagged. But I'm pretty sure she was built in China (under Canadian oversight) to save money.

 

[Wookie]

The Nautilus Explorer is SOLAS certified and at least in the past was Canadian flagged. But I'm pretty sure she was built in China (under Canadian oversight) to save money

When Mike first placed NEx in operation, he was running international voyages but not coastwise US voyages. That meant dead heading from Vancouver to LA, and then to Los Cabos. I have many friends and crew who crewed her. For a little while, he ran white sharks out of San Diego, but Jones Act just makes it too expensive. If I were to captain someone else’s boat, it would be Mike’s. He does it right. I have a standing offer.