The Story:
On Monday, the busiest United States petrochemical port to the Gulf of Mexico ‘Houston Ship Channel’ reopened after a fire damaged the ship blocking the waterway.
What happened?
The U.S. Coast Guard said that the waterway was moved to a berth and the channel was blocked for about an hour after a small tanker Jo Kiri reported a fire in its engine room.
Background:
The ship Jo Kiri was headed north along the 53-mile (85 km) waterway and near Eagle Point when the fire broke out. The fire was extinguished as of 2:50 p.m. CST (3.50 p.m. ET).
No injuries to the crew members or pollution to the environment were reported.
According to vessel tracking data, Jo Kiri which usually carries petrochemicals was headed to the Vo Pak terminal in the northern section of the channel.
The Jo Kiri is operated by privately held Jo Tankers AS, which was acquired by Stolt-Nielsen Ltd in November.
A spokesman for Stolt-Nielsen was not available to discuss the fire.
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Source: Reuters
