Definition: Vessel Fire Risk Category

Vessel Fire Risk Category: The vessel fire risk category is the measure of the risk of fire determined by the category of vessel, number of passengers on board and number of berthed passengers on board.

There are four (4) fire risk categories for vessels defined as follows;

National Standard for Commercial Vessels – Part C, Section 4 – Fire Safety, Table 2 — Fire Risk Category
Kind of vessel		Operational area category (see NSCV Part B)
Kind of vessel		A and B Extended	B	C	D	C
Class 1	Length of vessel	< 35mClass 1A, 2A, 1B extended, 2B extended and 1B vessels ≥35m long are required to comply with the requirements specified in Marine Order 15 for SOLAS vessels.	<35m¹	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths
	13 to 36 day passengers	III	II	II	I	I
	37 to 200 day passengers	IV	III	II	II	II
	201 to 450 day passengers	IV	IV	III	II	II
	451 or more day passengers	Marine Order 151A, 1B extended and 1B vessels carrying more than 450 day passengers or more than 36 berthed passengers are required to comply with the requirements specified in Marine Orders 15 for SOLAS vessels	Marine Order 15²	IV	IV	III
	13 to 36 berthed passengers	IV	III	II	II	II
	37 or more berthed passengers	Marine Order 15²	Marine Order 15²	IV	IV	IV
Class 2	Length of vessel	< 35m¹	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths
Class 2	Fire Risk Category	II	II	I	I	I
Class 3	Length of vessel	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths	All lengths
Class 3	Fire risk category	II	II	I	I	I

Vessel Fire Risk Category