Biggest Fires on Ships Ever Reported

The biggest fires on ships ever reported include catastrophic maritime disasters, which resulted in the loss of several lives and had a significant impact on safety regulations.

A few prominent incidents of onboard fires will be discussed in this article.

One such incident was onboard the passenger steamboat General Slocum, which caught fire on June 15, 1904, in New York’s East River, leading to the deaths of over 1000 people. The fire spread swiftly due to flammable materials and poor safety equipment. Several passengers, unable to swim, drowned as they jumped overboard in panic and fear.

This accident led to changes in U.S maritime safety regulations and led to demands for the placement of vessel fire safety inspections under the jurisdiction of the fire departments or other competent authority to ensure accountability.

Congress empowered the Steamboat Inspection Service to decide and enforce fire prevention and extinguishing features and to determine the amount and type of life-saving gear needed on each vessel.

Stricter requirements for