Cairo: Abdul Rahim Mustafa, a director at the Red Sea Ports Authority, said on Sunday that six containers onboard of the burning Danish vessel, Maersk Kampala, drifting in the south of Suez were isolated, because they contained flammable chemicals.
The fire started on Friday in two containers on the foredeck of the 6,800 teu ship. Having been put under control, it roared back on Saturday thanks for flammable liquids in neighbouring boxes. Tugboats with fire-fighting capability are have spent the past few days fighting the fire with some experts saying the losses from the fire are already in the tens of millions.
Crew are all accounted for and safe in the accomodation area with no injuries reported.
“Importantly,” Maersk Line noted in its latest release on the incident, “the fire fighting team on board is also now well into the process of extinguishing the fire inside containers by cutting open the hot containers as well as those nearby and flooding them with water. To speed up this process, an additional fire fighting team will come aboard this evening.” [02/09/13]
