Risk Identification Analysis of Fire Accidents for Passenger Ships by FMEA

Fire accidents on passenger ships are frequent worldwide. This kind of accident has the characteristics of suddenness, rapid fire spread, and difficulty in evacuating passengers, which pose significant risks to personnel safety. This paper focuses on risk identification analysis of fire accidents on passenger ships using failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), based on the global maritime accident investigation reports of fire accidents for passenger ships from 11 maritime investigation agencies. First, we identify the accident scenarios of fire accidents in passenger ships from cabin fire, living compartment fire, and cargo compartment fire. Second, the equipment and its combustible materials that caused the fire in each scenario are identified. The failure mode of the equipment is obtained by focusing on the equipment that caused the greater risk of fire for a comprehensive analysis through the structure, equipment, process flow, and other related information in each fire accident scenario. Furthermore, the risk factors that cause fire accidents in each scenario are obtained by exploring each failure mode’s failure causes and effects. The research results can be used to propose risk control options for effectively reducing the risk of fire accidents on passenger ships.