General maritime alarms

[Lefty Writer]

This isn't specifically cruise related, but I know there are several maritime experts on this forum. Mods, if this is inappropriate, please delete and accept my apologies.

 

I know that the general alarm on cruise ships is the standard seven short blasts followed by one long blast. We used this on our offshore drilling rigs as well.

 

I'm writing a script for some recorded dispatch calls for various fire scenarios for a board game. This is for private use, and not for commercial use, so there is no money changing hands or profit for me. I'm doing this to enhance the game experience for those that play.

 

One of the game boards/scenarios is a fire aboard a merchant vessel.

 

I know on CCL that the fire team is called "Alpha Team."

 

On a merchant vessel, specifically one tied up to the pier and NOT underway, what would the alarm process be for a fire, say in the galley. Would the "merchie" use the standard alarm signal above, followed by something like "Fire in the forward galley. Fire team 1 lay to the forward galley. All other crew report to your muster stations and await further instructions."

 

Thanks in advance.

[chengkp75]

First off, while passenger ships and oil rigs use the "more than six short blasts (more correct than 7), followed by a prolonged blast" as the signal for fire and general emergency, that is because there are a lot of folks onboard whose only duty in an emergency is to muster for possible evacuation. The signal for abandon ship, as you probably remember, is one prolonged blast.

 

On cargo ships, those signals are reversed. One prolonged blast is the signal for fire and emergency, while more than 6 short followed by one long is abandon ship.

 

What you have to realize is that your standard cargo ship crew is about 20-24 people, total. Therefore, in an emergency, it is "all hands". Each and every crew member will be assigned to a team. Our tanker has 5 teams: Fire teams #1 & #2, Reserve team, Bridge team, and Power and Services, plus two On Scene Commanders. The On Scenes are the Chief Mate and the First Engineer, who will deploy the other teams depending on whether the emergency is in the engine room, or on deck (including the house). Each fire team is 4 or 5 men, the Reserve team is 4 men, the Bridge team is 3, and the Power and Services is 2 for a total of 20.

 

The emergency would be announced by the fire and emergency signal on the general alarm bells, and an announcement would be "This is not a drill, this is not a drill, all hands report to their fire and emergency stations". From there, the On Scene Commanders would deploy the teams as required by the specific emergency. There are so few people onboard, that even a small emergency requires all hands to deal with it.

 

This procedure would be followed whether at sea or alongside a dock.

 

Cruise ships are far different animals. There, the use of the "code alarms" (alpha, bravo, etc, and which vary by line (alpha on NCL is medical emergency, bravo is fire)) are used to have only those crew needed respond to the emergency. But, even when a code bravo is issued, the On Scene Commander (at NCL the Staff Chief Engineer) will be handling over 50 first responders in fire teams (5-6 6-man teams), security teams, quick response technical team, medical teams, and my own team of a recorder and a person equipped with 6 foot long deck plans and grease pencils to record where the fire is reported, and where each team is assigned.

[Lefty Writer]

Wow! Fantastic information here. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, sir!

 

Now that I gave it more thought, when I was a rig medic on a semi-submersible rig, the general alarm signal wasn't specifically 7 short blasts (alarm bell rings, in our case). It was just "a series of short rings, followed by one long ring." Our abandon platform signal was one long ring.

 

In case anyone reading this is curious, the game I'm referring to is called Flash Point: Fire Rescue. The merchant ship board is in an expansion set called "Dangerous Waters." That expansion features both a merchant ship on one board and a submarine on the other board. A friend of mine is a retired Navy chief, who used to work on subs, so I was able to get an accurate alarm message from him.

 

The other scenarios range from a ranch house to an apartment building, high rise office, laboratory and an airplane. From my days as a paramedic and volunteer firefighter, I was able to write realistic dispatch scripts for them.

 

Again, while this does NOT impact game play, it will add to the experience when people play this game with me.

 

Thanks again to Chengkp75!