While electric vehicle fires are also highly relevant for ro-ro cargo ships and ro-pax ships, a very important discussion was held by SSE12 leading into regulatory considerations; despite all having ro-ro decks, there are fundamental differences between the three types of ro-ro ships.

Interferry’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, Johan Roos, notes that: “We have historically had to spend a lot of effort making sure that ferries are not dragged into regulations that emanate from another segment’s needs. It is well established that the CO2 systems used to extinguish fires on the ro-ro deck of vehicle carriers may not be sufficient to deal with EV fires, but that is not a ro-ro deck issue. Ro-ro cargo and ro-pax ferries use drencher systems, which use large amounts of water to demonstrably deal with an EV fire on the ro-ro deck.”

Going forward, the priority of the IMO is to deal with solutions for EV fires in vehicle carriers, and if any findings from that work are relevant to ro-ro/ro-pax, Interferry will engage in another round of deliberations during 2027-2028 with a view to introducing SOLAS amendments by 2032.

One area which needs more attention is the already existing requirement for ro-pax ships where “an effective video monitoring system shall be arranged in vehicle, special category and ro-ro spaces for continuous monitoring of these spaces”, which is valid for new ro-pax ships from 1 January 2026 and existing ro-pax ships from 1 January 2028  (Resolution MSC.550(108)). We hear from members that it is unclear exactly how to comply with these requirements, which may lead to an excessive number of cameras having to be fitted.

Johan Roos/Director of Regulatory Affairs, Interferry