Integrating Water-Mist Lances With Detection

By Vignesh Durai · September 25, 2026 · 2 min read

SOLAS has required a container-piercing water mist lance since 2016. On a vehicle deck, a lance works only if detection gets crews to the right car early.

A water mist lance is a pipe with a piercing nozzle that connects to the fire main and injects mist into an enclosed space. SOLAS II-2/10.7.3.1 has required at least one on container ships built since 1 January 2016, to punch through a container wall and fight a fire inside the box. Fire services use similar piercing and underbody nozzles on electric vehicles. On a vehicle deck, a lance only helps if detection gets a crew to the right vehicle early enough to use it safely.

What does SOLAS require for water mist lances?

A lance on container ships, and mobile monitors on the larger ones. Resolution MSC.365(93), adopted on 22 May 2014, amended SOLAS II-2/10 for ships designed to carry containers on or above the weather deck and built on or after 1 January 2016. Each must carry at least one water mist lance able to penetrate a container wall and produce mist inside. Ships carrying five or more tiers on deck must also carry mobile water monitors: two if the ship's breadth is under 30 metres, four if it is 30 metres or more. The rule is written for containers; it does not require lances on vehicle decks.

1 Jan 2016

container ships built from this date must carry a water mist lance (MSC.365(93))

≥1

lance required, able to pierce a container wall

2 or 4

mobile water monitors for 5+ tiers on deck, by breadth under or over 30 m

Can a lance fight an EV battery fire?

It can cool one, if it gets there. Fire services now use piercing nozzles and under-vehicle spray nozzles that slide beneath a car to cool the battery pan, and the UL Fire Safety Research Institute has tested underbody nozzles and fire blankets on electric vehicles. The aim is to get water to the cells, which the pack's casing is designed to keep out. Battery fires need a great deal of water: estimates for suppressing an EV fire run to 10,000 litres or more, against roughly 4,000 for a conventional car.

Why is a lance hard to use on a car deck?

Because it needs a person next to the burning vehicle. On a packed deck the crew have to reach a car stowed bumper to bumper, in smoke, possibly with toxic vent gas, and IUMI's 2025 guidance is explicit that manual firefighting should be a last resort, with fixed systems applied early. A lance is therefore most useful in a narrow set of cases: an event found very early, at a vehicle the crew can reach safely, often in port or during loading, and verified before anyone goes in.

What does detection have to give the lance team?

A location precise enough to walk to, and an early enough warning to go at all. A zone alarm sends a team searching; an alert that names the deck, the bay and the vehicle lets them approach the right car directly, or decide from the bridge that the fire is already past manual attack and release the fixed system instead.

Location to the vehicle, not just the detection section.
Timing early enough that the event is still at the pre-flame or early stage.
Verification from outside the deck, so no one enters to confirm.
A clear handover: bridge decision, team route, and the fixed-system fallback.

Conclusion

How RoRoSAFE helps

A lance is only as good as the detection that tells the crew where to use it. RoRoSAFE supplies that: per-vehicle alerts that name the bay before visible smoke, so the team goes to the right vehicle while the event is still contained, or the bridge moves straight to the fixed system. It is the detection layer this article says the lance depends on.

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Sources

1. IMO Resolution MSC.365(93), adopted 22 May 2014 — amendments to SOLAS II-2/10 (10.7.3): water mist lance with piercing nozzle for ships designed to carry containers on or above the weather deck, built on or after 1 January 2016; mobile water monitors for five or more tiers (two for breadth under 30 m, four for 30 m or more). ABS 'Guide for Fire-Fighting Systems for Cargo Areas of Container Carriers'.
2. UL Fire Safety Research Institute — EV battery fire research: under-vehicle nozzles and fire blankets.
3. LASHFIRE project — 'Myths and facts about fires in battery electric vehicles' (2022), and related summaries: EV suppression water estimates of 10,000 litres or more versus about 4,000 for a conventional vehicle.
4. IUMI — 'Risk mitigation for the safe ocean and short-sea carriage of electric vehicles', September 2025.

Frequently asked

Questions, answered

Is a water mist lance required on car carriers?+

No. SOLAS II-2/10.7.3.1, introduced by MSC.365(93), requires at least one water mist lance on ships designed to carry containers on or above the weather deck and built from 1 January 2016. The lance is designed to pierce a container wall. Vehicle decks rely on fixed water-based and other extinguishing systems.

Can a water lance put out an electric vehicle fire?+

It can cool the battery if it reaches it. Fire services use piercing and underbody nozzles to get water to the pack, which the casing is designed to keep out. EV fires need a lot of water, estimated at 10,000 litres or more, and on a ship the hard part is reaching the vehicle safely.

When should a crew use a lance on a vehicle deck?+

Only when an event is found very early, at a vehicle they can reach safely, and verified before anyone goes in. IUMI's 2025 guidance says manual firefighting should be a last resort, with fixed systems used early. Past that point the bridge should move to the fixed system.

What does a lance team need from fire detection?+

A location precise enough to walk to, meaning the vehicle rather than just the detection section, and a warning early enough that manual attack is still reasonable. Verification from outside the deck matters too, so no one enters a smoke-filled space just to confirm an alarm.