AsiaContainersOperations

Containership on fire in East China Sea

Singapore: Japanese-built containership Kamala (24,724 dwt, built 1999) caught fire this morning around 400km off the coast of the Japanese island of Kuchinoshima in the East China Sea.

The vessel was headed to the Korean port of Ulsan, having departed Gresik in Indonesia, when it sent a distress signal this morning around 12:45am. Japan’s 10th Regional Coast Guard mobilised to assist, to find the vessel and several containers on fire.

According to Japanese media reports the vessel was carrying 796 containers, and as of noon today the fire had not been extinguished. No injuries were sustained by the 23 crew members, mostly from Thailand and India, although its not clear yet whether they have evacuated the vessel.

The vessel is being operated on a Korea-Indonesia service, users include Korean lines KMTC and Hanjin Shipping. The vessel is owned by Singapore-headquartered Seachange Maritime.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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