Firefighters are warning Australians of the hazards of lithium battery fires as they reply to each day call-outs.
Fireplace crews are noting a spate of explosions attributable to lithium batteries present in e-scooters and e-bikes – and it might even occur once they’re being shipped to retailers.
When hundreds of the batteries are packed like sardines and shipped to Australian buyer and retailers, the chance is even larger.
Mike Gallagher, CEO of Ports Australia, mentioned ship fires attributable to these flammable batteries had been just about unimaginable to securely put out.
“They’re packed like sardines inside a tin, besides these are very harmful sardines,” he mentioned.
“You possibly can’t put them out. So you possibly can think about it on the road if you cannot put them out, think about them on a vessel out at sea or in a port.”
Ships are the commonest methods electrical bikes and scooters are being transported to Australian shores.
In 2022, a cargo ship carrying luxurious automobiles together with EVs sunk to the underside of the Atlantic Ocean.
Final 12 months, a hearth on the Fremantle Freeway ship led to the dying of a crew member.
Captain Adrian Scales, who specialises in electrical car carriage, responded to that blaze.
“The ship’s crew could not really struggle fires from thereafter, and [it] really prevented them getting again to the lifeboat,” Scales mentioned.
There are rising considerations throughout the globe in regards to the risks of EV fires on ships, however proper now there aren’t any formal security laws or protocols detailing find out how to take care of them once they occur.
Mark Morrow from the Australian Maritime Security Authority mentioned motion have to be taken quickly.
“It might occur in a port right this moment in Brisbane,” he warned.
“We have to get some plans in place shortly, even when it is simply what is the preliminary response? How can we handle that?
“After which take it someplace and let it burn. That most likely is what the response goes to be.”
A summit in Brisbane is being held will see consultants collect to formulate a plan to repair the ship hearth epidemic.
