Fire Fighting Equipment
Fireman's Outfits
Fireman's Outfits is a group of 24 IMPA-coded items (codes 330901–330946) under Fire Fighting Equipment in the Safety Equipment section (IMPA 33). They are priced per pair (12), per piece (8) and per set (4).
Buying guide
A fire-fighter's (fireman's) outfit is the kit a shipboard fire party wears to enter a burning or smoke-filled space: protective clothing, boots, helmet, safety lamp and axe, plus self-contained breathing apparatus and a lifeline. This group covers the personal-equipment parts (coats, boots, gloves, helmets and aluminised suits), each under a named approval (MED, UK/USCG, Hong Kong, Norwegian); breathing apparatus, safety lamps and axes are ordered from their own groups.
The chief officer or safety officer orders complete outfits or individual parts — a helmet, boots, a lamp, spare cylinders — after inspection, after a fire or drill has damaged items, or when a part reaches the end of its service life.
How to specify it
List each component separately with its size: suit (jacket and trousers) by size, boots by size, helmet, lamp, axe, breathing apparatus set, spare cylinders and lifeline. Buying "1 fireman's outfit" invites quotes that differ in what is included.[1]
For breathing apparatus give the make already on board, the cylinder capacity and working pressure, and whether cylinders are steel or composite, because cylinders on board must be interchangeable. For tankers and hazardous areas, state that the safety lamp must be explosion-proof and give the required protection marking.[1]
State the approval needed. For EU-flagged ships, fire-fighter's outfit boots (MED/3.4) and helmets (MED/3.6) are wheel-marked items; Canadian rules, for example, accept outfits meeting the MED or NFPA 1971.[2][3]
Rules and certificates
The FSS Code (chapter 3) defines the outfit as personal equipment plus breathing apparatus. Personal equipment is protective clothing with a water-resistant outer surface that protects from radiant heat and steam, boots of rubber or other electrically non-conducting material, a rigid helmet, an approved electric safety lamp with a minimum burning period of 3 h (explosion-proof on tankers and in hazardous areas), and an axe with a high-voltage-insulated handle.[1]
The breathing apparatus must be self-contained compressed-air apparatus with at least 1,200 l of air in the cylinders, or other self-contained apparatus able to work for at least 30 min, and all cylinders must be interchangeable. Each set needs a fireproof lifeline at least 30 m long, tested to 3.5 kN for 5 min and attachable by snap-hook.[1]
UK survey instructions (MCA MSIS 12, chapter 9) call for two spare charges per required apparatus — one where cargo ships and smaller passenger ships can fully recharge cylinders on board free from contamination — an audible alarm and a visual or other low-pressure warning on every fire-fighter’s SCBA from 1 July 2019 (MSC.338(91)), and the working pressure marked prominently where cylinders of different pressures are carried.[4]
The same instructions say steel cylinders should be inspected and hydrostatically tested at intervals not exceeding 5 years, carbon-composite cylinders at the manufacturer’s interval or within 5 years, and that clothing, gloves, boots and helmet should be type-approved to the testing standards in the Marine Equipment Directive. Since 1 July 2014 SOLAS II-2/15 has required either a means of recharging drill cylinders on board or enough spare cylinders to replace those used.[4]
Questions buyers ask
- How many spare cylinders should we order with each breathing apparatus?
- UK MCA survey instructions call for two spare charges per required apparatus, or one where the ship can fully recharge cylinders on board. Ships without a compressor also need cylinders for drills, and ships carrying dangerous goods need extra sets. Check the flag’s rules and the safety management system before ordering.
- Is the breathing apparatus part of the outfit or a separate order?
- Under the FSS Code it is part of the outfit, but IMPA lists it separately. Order it in the same requisition so the cylinders and lifeline match the sets already on board.
- Can any hand torch be used as the outfit lamp?
- No. The FSS Code calls for an approved electric safety lamp with at least 3 h burning time, and on tankers or in hazardous areas it must be explosion-proof.
Sources
- Myanmar DMA — National Standard for Fire Safety Systems (reproduces the IMO FSS Code), chapter 3 Personnel protection
- DNV — Updated Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1533 amending the MED, in force 23 September 2025
- Canada — Vessel Fire Safety Regulations (SOR/2017-14)
- UK MCA — MSIS 12 chapter 9, Fire-fighter's outfits and emergency escape breathing devices (rev 04.14)
Published by Sherif Awad, founder of GeoMarineHub — in ship supply since 1990, a family business since 1981 (45 years). Last checked .
At a glance
Part of Safety Equipment (IMPA section 33): Life-saving and fire-fighting equipment — extinguishers, breathing apparatus, lifejackets, detectors, pyrotechnics.
It is one of 7 groups under Fire Fighting Equipment; the others include Emergency Door Key Case, Fire Axes, Fire Blankets, Fire Blankets/Sterile Burn Dressings Water-jel, Fireproof Lifelines and 1 more.
Post the ones you need as a requirement and verified suppliers activated at your port bid on them — sealed, so nobody sees another bid.
- Items
- 24
- IMPA codes
- 330901–330946
- Priced
- per pair · per piece · per set
Items
Also under Fire Fighting Equipment
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