美国国家公共电台 NPR--What's being done to solve the problem of exploding batteries on cargo ships

What's being done to solve the problem of exploding batteries on cargo¹ ships

Transcript²

Lithium-ion batteries - used in everything from electric cars to smartphones - are catching³ fire on land and at sea. Why is it happening and what's being done to solve the problem?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Lithium-ion batteries are used in everything from electric cars to smartphones, and over the past several years, they've been exploding on airplanes, in people's homes and on cargo ships. Our colleagues over at The Indicator⁴ From Planet Money, Wailin Wong and Darian Woods, spoke⁵ to a former cargo ship captain about this issue and what's being done to solve it.

DARIAN WOODS, BYLINE⁶: Captain Rahul Khanna spent 14 years at sea in charge of cargo ships, transporting everything from oil to iron ore to grain.

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: Today, Rahul is the global head of marine⁷ risk consulting at the insurance company Allianz. That's a fancy way of saying he spends his time thinking about all the things that can go wrong at sea. And lately, a big problem for the maritime⁸ industry is lithium-ion battery fires.

RAHUL KHANNA: 2017, I think, was the time that we recognized it first. We started to see regular fires, regular incidents happening. And at that time, we thought this was an emerging trend. Fast-forward a few more years, now it's almost an emergency.

WOODS: In 2022, Allianz looked at five years' worth of marine insurance claims, and it found that fire and explosion was the most costly⁹ kind of loss. It was also one of the top causes of total losses, which is when nothing can be recovered from a ship.

WONG: While Rahul says these fires are an urgent issue for the maritime industry, overall, these battery fires are still not that common. One estimate put the failure rate at 1 out of every 10 million lithium-ion batteries.

WOODS: But there are a lot of batteries out there, and it keeps growing. And even one failure can result in a fire with catastrophic consequences. Some fires have resulted in deaths, and it's because it's a dangerous kind of fire that gets super hot super fast.

WONG: Previous fires have shown that water can put out a lithium-ion battery fire - eventually. But it takes a whole lot of water. And because it's so hard to bring down the battery's temperature, the fire can keep reigniting. There's even a risk of explosion because of flammable vapors¹⁰ that can ignite.

WOODS: Allianz, the insurance company where Rahul works, says that because shipboard fires are so hard to extinguish, the focus should be on prevention. And this responsibility falls on the entire supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.

KHANNA: So to start from, we have the manufacturers who have responsibility in producing a quality product and doing everything as much as possible by the book.

WONG: Rahul says a lot of battery manufacturers sprang up in response to the huge consumer demand for electronic devices, and the quality of these batteries can be uneven¹¹. A poorly made battery can be a real hazard.

KHANNA: And then you have the shippers who are packaging, transporting it from the factories to the ships and then stuffing them in containers.

WONG: Batteries need to be stored in a certain way to prevent fires from starting, and they're supposed to be labeled as lithium batteries so that they're handled properly while in transit¹².

KHANNA: Misdeclared cargo has been going around in the shipping¹³ industry for a long time, but it has now become a problem which we really need to deal with.

WOODS: Allianz says that some container ship operators are beefing up inspections¹⁴ and imposing¹⁵ higher fines on misdeclared cargo. And when it comes to improving safety on the ships themselves, Rahul says that people in the industry, along with the United Nations, are talking about updating regulations around what kinds of fire detection systems should be required on board.

WONG: Wailin Wong.

WOODS: Darian Woods, NPR News.

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 vapors   

n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His emotions became vague and shifted about like vapors. 他的心情则如同一团雾气，变幻无常，捉摸不定。 来自辞典例句
• They have hysterics, they weep, they have the vapors. 他们歇斯底里，他们哭泣，他们精神忧郁。 来自辞典例句

11 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

12 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

13 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

14 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。