It is concluded that at present, th

It is concluded that at present, there is insufficient historical data to reach a definitive conclusion on the time period that a fire on a ship would be considered to be intense. Fire modelling techniques have been used to estimate the growth of fires (severity and duration) initiating on the rail deck and in the Engine Room of the "Nord Pas-de-Calais". Fire conditions on the rail deck were estimated to reach a temperature in the upper gas layer of about 400ºC after 20 minutes and then to subside due to the limited ventilation. In the event of a fire in the engine room of the "Nord Pas-de-Calais", dampers shut off the ventilation and fire-resisting doors seal off the engine room. With no air input, HAZARD I predicts that the fire burns out within 10 minutes. Should the dampers stay open, the fire peaks after 20 minutes producing a ceiling temperature of about 130ºC. Assuming a fire-resisting door does not close, the engine room ceiling temperature reaches ~400ºC after 2½ hours, levelling off after 8 hours at 440ºC, a temperature well below that at which the integrity of the engine room ceiling would be considered to be threatened. Such a fire would have a frequency estimated at 8.0 × 10–9/year