Abstract

More that 80% of world trade is transported by sea. Ships are the primary means of transporting cars around the world as well. Most often, this is done with specialized ships called Ro-Ro (Roll on-Roll off), and sometimes, when it comes to individual units, in containers. One of the main concerns during such transportation is the fire safety of the ships. At the same time automotive technology is changing, electric powered vehicles are increasingly displacing internal combustion engines. In the last decade, the production of electric and hybrid cars has grown significantly, which has also led to an increase in the volume of their transportation. However, this also brought a new challenge – the risk of fire caused by their batteries malfunctioning. The danger of fire associated with lithium-ion batteries is well known and there have been quite a few such cases in recent years. The idea of this study is to highlight the conditions of carriage, the fire safety measures on board the ships, as well as the ways of fighting a possible fire.