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Adequate fire protection of a large oceangoing vessel depends on the assessment of various spaces within the ship for fire risk factors. These factors include: fuel load, relative probability of ignition, value, manning, fire fighter trainer, detection systems, portable and installed fire suppression systems, and the passive fire barriers that are inherent to the ship design. Accurate assessment of these factors is made possible by use of a Fire Risk Assessment Method, which documents and weighs the many fire hazards and protection systems common to oceangoing vessels. The results obtained from this method can be used to gage the risk value of individual spaces or groups of spaces (such as within a watertight subdivision), the available firefighting capabilities and the areas where additional fire protection equipment and/or personnel may be needed. This method is oriented toward achieving a balanced ship design with respect to hazard, value and protection. This method of fire risk assessment is useful to ship designers, builders, owners and insurers.