Magazine Fire Fighting System

Fleet-Scale Marine Automation — 11 Ships  |  88 Panels

Siemens S7-1500 PLC  ·  ET 200SP Distributed I/O  ·  MTP 1500 Unified HMI  ·  TIA Portal

11 Ships Deployed

77 LCP Panels

11 DCHQ Panels

88+ Panels Total

Scope	PLC programming, HMI development, panel engineering, fabrication, FAT & commissioning
Technology	Siemens S7-1500 PLC  |  ET 200SP Distributed I/O  |  MTP 1500 Unified HMI  |  TIA Portal  |  MRP Network
Industry	Marine / Naval — Safety-critical fire suppression
Delivery	End-to-end — from engineering brief to fleet-wide commissioning

Background

Goose Industrial Solutions designed, programmed, fabricated, and commissioned a complete Magazine Fire Fighting System (MFFS) for a fleet of 11 naval vessels — 88 panels total: 11 DCHQ master panels (Siemens S7-1500 + MTP 1500 HMI) and 77 Local Control Panels. One of Goose's largest single-scope automation deliveries.

The Client & Requirement

A global fire suppression integrator needed a complete PLC/HMI package protecting ammunition compartments on naval vessels — seven per ship — operating reliably through humidity, salt air, and intermittent power.

Two panel types per vessel:

• DCHQ Panel — master firefighting control centre housing the PLC, HMI, and network master node.

• LCP — compartment-level annunciation and manual override at seven locations per ship.

The Challenges

• Marine Environment

All junction boxes required thermostat-regulated heater control to prevent condensation, with panel enclosures built to IP ratings for shipboard use.

• Network Reliability

Media Redundancy Protocol (MRP) ring topology was implemented across each vessel; any single cable or switch failure was recovered in under 200 ms.

 

• Safety-Critical Logic

CHECK SENSOR diagnostics prevent false suppression activations: when two sensors in the same compartment diverge beyond a set threshold, the HMI alerts before escalating, stopping a single sensor fault from triggering a full discharge.

• Scale & Power Continuity

A single master TIA Portal project with vessel-specific variable tables kept all 88 panels consistent. UPS-backed 24VDC architecture ensured continuous operation through any main power loss.

The Solution Architecture

A three-layer automation architecture, master control, distributed field I/O, and local operator interface; integrated over a redundant Ethernet/IP network.

Layer	Hardware	Function
Layer 1 — Master	Siemens S7-1500 PLC + MTP 1500 HMI (DCHQ Panel)	Central fire fighting logic, alarm management, QRV sequencing, operator HMI, MRP master, trend & report logging
Layer 2 — Field I/O	Siemens ET 200SP — AI-1, RTD-1, RTD-2, DI4, DQ5, DQ6 modules	Sensor acquisition (temp, pressure, IR), valve outputs, alarm outputs. One ET 200SP node per compartment JB. Heater control via Panasonic thermostat relay.
Layer 3 — Local HMI	LCP — Pushbutton panel with indicator lamps (per vessel × 7)	Compartment-level annunciation: TT/PT/IR check, pre-alarm and activated states. Local mode selector, emergency activation, buzzer silence, lamp test.

HMI Screens

Five screens navigable from the front panel: Overview (all compartments at a glance), Compartment Detail (per-sensor dials and CHECK SENSOR alerts), Settings, Trend (historical logging), and Report (on-demand event reports).

Project Execution

Phase	Activity	Detail
Phase 1	Engineering	I/O list development, PLC architecture, network topology, panel GA drawings, and control philosophy documentation for all operating modes — remote, local, emergency, and maintenance.
Phase 2	Programming	Full TIA Portal programme: sensor acquisition, fault detection, alarm management, CHECK SENSOR logic, QRV sequencing, Modbus communication. HMI screens: Overview, Compartment, Settings, Trend, Report.
Phase 3	Fabrication	88 panels fabricated at Goose Engineering Centre, Pune. DCHQ panels: S7-1500, ET 200SP, MTP 1500 HMI, Schneider MCBs, SMPS, UPS, MRP switches. LCP panels: 22–24 indicator lamps, pushbuttons, key selector, buzzer — all to standard BOM.
Phase 4	FAT	100% panel-level Factory Acceptance Testing: all I/O points exercised, alarm sequences verified, CHECK SENSOR logic tested, MRP ring failover confirmed, UPS switchover tested, HMI navigation checked before dispatch.
Phase 5	Commissioning	Vessel-by-vessel site commissioning: sensor scaling verification with field instruments, network health check, operator training, and as-built documentation produced per vessel.

Results & Outcomes

88 Panels Delivered

100% FAT Pass Rate

11 Ships Operational

0 Post-Commissioning Failures

The MFFS is operational across all 11 vessels — three-tier alarm escalation (Check Sensor → Pre-Alarm → Activated), LCP annunciation per compartment, and full operator control from the DCHQ panel. Heater-controlled JBs, MRP redundancy, and UPS-backed power have ensured zero failures since commissioning.

Key Takeaways

• Safety-critical, life-safety automation; not just process control

• 88 panels at consistent quality, delivered from a single engineering centre

• Deep Siemens SI expertise: S7-1500, ET 200SP, TIA Portal, MTP HMI; end-to-end

• Marine and defence experience: harsh environment, redundant networks, UPS design

• Full in-house scope: engineering, fabrication, FAT, and commissioning under one roof

88 panels. 11 ships. 100% FAT pass rate. Zero post-commissioning failures.

About Goose Industrial Solutions

Goose Industrial Solutions is an authorised Siemens System Integrator delivering end-to-end industrial automation solutions across sectors including dairy, beverage, food processing, marine, and defence. With 40+ successful projects, Goose combines engineering expertise with proven Siemens technologies to optimise performance, efficiency, and reliability.

Get in touch with Goose Industrial Solutions to transform your operations with smarter automation.