The Panama Maritime Authority’s General Directorate of Merchant Marine (DCCM) has issued a Marine Notice to notify operators about the new Paris MoU Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) on fire doors.

According to the Notice, the Focused Inspection Campaign is established to take place from July 1st to September 30th, 2024, and targets Panamanian-flagged vessels working within the Paris MoU area. Flag State Inspectors and Recognized Organizations are instructed to focus on these factors during their surveys. The Panama Maritime Authority facilitates all relevant parties to review this notice and confirm compliance with the outlined inspection criteria.

The following topics are part of the scope of this FIC:

  1. Verifying that fire door control panel indicators, if provided, are functional
  2. Testing a sample of fire doors for local and remotely controlled operation;
  3. Checking if self-closing fire doors are improperly lashed in the open position;
  4. Checking that doors close and latch properly;
  5. Checking that doors fitted in boundary bulkheads of machinery spaces of Category A are reasonably gastight and self-closing;
  6. Checking that fire doors have the appropriate fire resistance for the bulkhead in which they are fitted – Class A or B.

FICs are short, targeted inspection efforts. This procedure mirrors that of AMSA, which conducts similar campaigns on detailed topics and ship types. The Focused Inspection Campaigns serve as an alternative to the traditional Concentrated Inspection Campaigns (CiCs).

The first trial FIC by Paris MoU took place during the summer of 2023, from July 10th to August 9th, focusing on Pilot Transfer Arrangements.

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