S. Sunardi, Aleik Nurwahyudi, Eko Sulkhany, Arief Setyanto, Heri Supomo, H. Hasanudin, Achmad Baidowi, Sapto P. Kertorahardjo
Engine-room fires remain a dominant loss pathway in non-class wooden fishing vessels where combustible construction coexists with high thermal and fuel loads in confined machinery spaces. Using the Hentri-I engine-room fire (North Tanimbar, Indonesia; 3 September 2021) as an evidence-bounded case, this paper converts an official investigation into a barrier-performance model and derives engineering actions for vessel equipment, layout, and operation/maintenance. A Bow-Tie was developed around the top event “uncontrolled engine-room fire,” mapping report-supported threats to prevention, detection, suppression, and consequence-management barriers. Barrier availability and effectiveness were coded from documented arrangements and survivor statements and used to prioritize feasible retrofit options for resource-constrained operators. The analysis shows a prevention set weakened by fuel/heat vulnerabilities and combustible interfaces, while escalation was accelerated by absent detection, non-isolable natural ventilation, and suppression limited to portable extinguishers without a dedicated fire pump or fixed system. These gaps compressed the effective response window and shifted the outcome toward abandonment offshore. A minimum viable retrofit package is proposed, including fuel-line hardening, heat-source shielding, ventilation isolation provisions, early detection, and a basic machinery-space suppression/attack capability, supported by a barrier-focused comparison to small-vessel safety requirements. ©2026 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Department of Marine and Fisheries Resources Utilization, Fisheries and Marine Science Faculty, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 60145, Indonesia; National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), National Transportation Department, Jakarta Pusat, 10110, Indonesia; Department of Naval Architecture, Faculty of Marine Technology, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia; Department of Marine Engineering, Faculty of Marine Technology, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia; Fisheries Capture Center, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Semarang, 50175, Indonesia
