On the morning of Sept. 7, 2018, a fierce fire destroyed the 134-foot yacht Kanga as it was anchored off the coast of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic. The nine guests and four crew all were evacuated; no one was injured.
Kanga, a tri-deck displacement yacht, was almost brand new. An experienced American owner ordered it from the CNN yard in La Spezia, Italy. It was built to hold 12 guests in five staterooms; the crew quarters could hold a staff of 11. It was launched in May, and was scheduled to be displayed at the Cannes and Monaco yacht shows in September.
What happened? The first fire alarm was sounded at 8:20 a.m. It took less than 25 minutes for the fire to spread from the lower deck to the upper sun deck. The fire was accompanied by several explosions. After shutting off all the fuel valves, the captain ordered abandon ship. You can see a picture of what happened to the boat above.
A new report from the Transport Malta’s Marine Safety Investigation Unit says that “in all probability” the fire was started by lithium-ion batteries in the yacht’s garage. Four electric surfboards were stored there, all with lithium-ion batteries. Earlier, the crew had noted a brownish-color liquid leaking from three of them.
Lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly popular in the past few years. They are used in portable electronics and electric vehicles. They have a high-energy density and low self-discharge. But they contain a flammable electrolyte that can result in explosions and fires. A few years ago, Samsung had to recall new Galaxy 7 handsets after several lithium-ion fires, and there were fires involving the batteries on Boeing 787s.
The Malta report said the Kanga crew were not fully aware of the hazards of lithium-batteries, even after they found the brownish-colored fluid leaking from the surfboards. In addition, the garage was not considered a service space, meaning additional measures to prevent a fire were not necessary. There was no gas detector in the garage, and fire patrols by the crew were not frequent enough to detect the fire. Read more:
https://www.superyachttimes.com/yacht-news/yacht-kanga-fire-report
