Kodiak Enterprise fire report faults fire detection and notification system

Kodiak Enterprise was declared a a $56.6 million total loss after 6-day fire. [USCG photograph]

A fire detection and notification system that didn’t notify is a key focus of the National Transportation Safety Board report on the fire that broke out on the 1977-built, 276 foot long Trident Seafoods catcher processor Kodiak Enterprise at around 3.20 a.m., April 8, 2023, while moored for a scheduled overhaul at the seafood company’s facility on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma, Wash.. The so intense that initially some Tacoma residents were under a shelter in place order.

Four crewmembers, who were living onboard during the overhaul, emerged uninjured. However, the fire continued burning for six days and the commercial fishing vessel was declared a $56.6 million total loss.

A deckhand from a nearby vessel first saw the fire and reported it to a Trident security guard, who then called a Trident official, who then alerted the sleeping crew — who had received no notification from the Kodiak Enterprise’s fire detection and notification system. It was designed to send an alarm by text or email when set for in-port operation. However, the system did not send a notification the night of the fire.

Investigators determined the vessel’s inadequate fire detection and notification system—which was not designed to sound in crew accommodation spaces and failed to wirelessly alert shoreside contacts—contributed to the risk to the onboard crewmembers and to the severity of the fire.

“Vessel wireless monitoring and notification systems with an ‘in-port’ setting allow operators to be notified of a potential emergency when a vessel is moored at the dock and crews are not standing a 24-hour watch,” the report said. “Vessel operators should test the system on a set schedule to ensure it properly notifies the recipients of the alert. When the vessel is undergoing repair work that can cause false alarms, such as hot work, crewmembers should check the fire detection and notification system to ensure it is operating following the completion of work.”

The system was supposed to alert two shoreside contacts if a fire was detected. The crewmembers living on board were not listed among the notification system’s designated contacts. The report highlights that “crewmembers living or staying on board a vessel while it is in port should be included on the system’s designated contacts to be notified immediately in case of a fire or other emergency.”

Investigators could not definitively determine the cause of the fire in the dry stores room due to extensive damage. It was likely caused by an unknown electrical source in the dry stores room.

• Download the full report HERE

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