Battery-related fires on the rise
The development of electric power on ships, often at high voltage, is not without its problems. Between the fire of the superyachts MY kanga in Croatia and MY Siempre in Olbia, Sardinia, both suspected to be due to electrically powered toys on board and their Lithium-Ion batteries, and that of an electric Silent Yachts 60 carried on board a cargo ship, the end of 2022 was marked by a series of serious accidents leading to the total loss of boats.
In response, yacht captains and crews, as well as some manufacturers, have accelerated their search for prevention and control solutions. Hans Groenenboom, sales director of FLIR, a manufacturer of thermal imaging cameras, testifies: "We are seeing more and more interest in firefighting training, but also in prevention methods. Once a fire has started on lithium batteries, there's usually not much you can do. Monitoring the temperature before there is smoke, like with our cameras, becomes interesting, so we can act earlier."
Fine temperature monitoring
Thermal imaging adds an additional layer of safety to the obligations of classification bodies. Thermal cameras allow a single tool to monitor a large area of the ship, set temperature alarms on specific areas and connect to the ship's fire alarm network, unlike traditional temperature sensors that only monitor one piece of equipment. The FLIR manager adds: "You don't just check at one point and the image allows you to see what's going on, not just that it's too hot. It's a way to have an extra safety tool and to act early if there is a defect when charging a toy. We'll still be able to disconnect it or at worst dump it so we don't lose the whole boat."
With a budget of about 1,000 euros, an AX8 camera from FLIR or equivalent, remains an affordable budget for security equipment. Equipped with an IP address, it can be integrated into the on-board network and architectures such as the Yacht Sense from Raymarine, FLIR's sister company, but also from other electronic manufacturers.
A growing demand
For the time being, FLIR believes that large yachts are the most mature market for the moment. Electric boats as a whole could also be a breeding ground for thermal imaging cameras. Hans Groenenboom concludes from his experience: "It's been 7 to 8 years since we started marketing our thermal imaging cameras for boats, in machine rooms or for electrical panels. This has really accelerated in the last 6 months. If we draw a parallel with navigation cameras, which were rare a few years ago, they are now on all the big Italian boats and represent a market of 20 million euros. So there is potential."
