AsiaOperations

Major fire rips through car carrier docked at Incheon

Hundreds of emergency workers rushed to Incheon port on the west coast of South Korea this morning after a major fire broke out on the Hyundai Glovis-controlled Auto Banner car carrier. Thick plumes of smoke are still emanating from the 199 m long ship as Splash’s daily newsletter readied for publication, some nine hours after the blaze started.

The fire started on the 11th floor of the ship, which was due to take a consignment of used cars to Libya. Helicopters were deployed to drop water from the air, while more than 40 fire engines have been spraying the hull from the dock to try and cool the ship down. Firefighters have also drilled three holes into the side of the ship to help get the smoke in and to douse the inside of the ship.

All crew were evacuated this morning and there have been no reports of injuries.

Firefighters are waiting for the smoke and heat to cool down before they can enter the 50,000 dwt ship.

The 5,700 unit car carrier was loaded with 2,100 used vehicles when the blaze started, of which around 200 were located on the 11th storey of the ship.

 

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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