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Fire finally doused on livestock carrier in Australia

A fire that ripped through a silo of a livestock carrier has finally been put out after four days, suggesting the ship will need extensive repairs.

The ship, Awassi Express, fortunately was carrying grain, not livestock, when it caught fire on Tuesday night at Portland off the coast of Victoria in Australia.

A silo filled with 800 tonnes of grain caught fire.

Country Fire Authority incident controller Mark Gunning told local media on Sunday crews began unloading the fodder from the ship on Saturday afternoon into waiting trucks and have made good progress so far.

“Fire suppression activities over the last few days to bring the fire under control and lower the temperature within the silo to a safe level has allowed for this unloading procedure to occur,” Gunning said.

 

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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