Cargo hold fire in a CMA CGM containership off Malaysia, reports Transport Malta.
The Incident
On April 16th a fire broke out in the cargo hold of a CMA CGM containership off Malaysia, while the 9,452-teu vessel was en route from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Port Klang.
As of now, an investigation is under way and according to the company the fire is under control. The CMA CGM Lisa Marie, built in 2017, is owned by leaseback financier BoCom Leasing of China.
“There have been no reports of injuries, and the vessel is proceeding to Port Klang for further assessment,” CMA CGM added. “CMA CGM has notified the relevant authorities, and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire,” the company said.
The fire broke out in a container or containers, and the vessel changed course to receive firefighting assistance, as informed by the maritime rescue authorities in Port Klang and Banda Aceh. The crew were able to stop the fire, however, two vessels were sent on site as a precaution measure.
Probable cause of the fire
The packing list and MSDS of the cargo in the container stowed in position 231312 were not made available to the safety investigation. Furthermore, even the findings of the laboratory analysis of the cargo samples were not made available. The Company stated that the container charterers did not provide the Company with any documents related to the cargo. Therefore, the safety investigation was neither able to determine the exact cause of the fire, nor the hazards associated with any or all of the products in this container.
Conclusions
- In the absence of adequate information, the safety investigation was unable to confirm the exact cause of the fire.
- The heat and smoke damage pattern on the aft bulkhead of cargo hold no. 3 suggested that the fire originated from a container loaded in this cargo hold, in position 231312, which was said to have been loaded with products for the dyeing industry.
- Information available to the safety investigation indicated that at least one of the products loaded in the container, contained calcium hypochlorite, which may possibly have been the cause of the fire.
- The safety investigation was unable to verify the hazards associated with this cargo, if any, as relevant cargo documents and the findings of the laboratory analysis of the cargo samples were not made available.
- Due to the lack of information, the safety investigation was unable to confirm whether the requirements of the IMDG Code should have applied to the cargo.
- The safety investigation was also unable to confirm if any special provisions of the IMDG Code, applied to the cargo.
- While the vessel sustained minor damages, due to the fire, several containers in the cargo hold were damaged.
- As the crew members observed smoke and rise in temperatures in the cargo hold, for five days, it is likely that the cargoes within the damaged containers were smouldering and were severely affected by the fire.
- The vessel’s fixed CO2 fire extinguishing system was unable to extinguish the fire completely.
- The continuous efforts and the timely actions taken by the crew members, in the prevailing circumstances, were extremely effective and prevented the situation from escalating.
Recommendations
The Company is recommended to:
07/2023_R1 ensure that agreements with container charterers are in place, providing immediate support and access to comprehensive technical information in the event of cargo fires on board.
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Source: Transport Malta
