ZIM confirms fire on cargo ship near Colombo

ZIM confirms fire on cargo ship near Colombo

The 8,586 teu Zim Charleston was destroyed by a fire in the Indian Ocean 11 days ago, and the vessel showed no sign of leaving the port of Colombo as accident investigators are investigating the latest fire to hit the liner, officials with Israeli shipping company ZIM confirmed Business.

According to insurance company WK Webster, up to 300 containers may have been damaged in the fire in cargo hold 4. ZIM Charleston is chartered by ZIM and owned by Seaspan.

"We can confirm a fire on the Istar Charleston, which is now in Colombo. Based on information received from the owner, the fire occurred in the [dangerous goods] cargo hold below deck and the crew was the first responder to the fire, ” a ZIM spokesperson told Splash.

The incident is still under investigation and is in the first response phase. Statistics from insurance companies indicate that a container ship fire occurs every 60 days in liner shipping. According to the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), nearly 25% of all serious incidents on container ships can be attributed to misdeclared cargo. Liner companies have begun fining shippers for failing to declare dangerous goods in containers following multiple fires.

Earlier this week, Danish shipping company Maersk revealed that it had decided to install VIKING's HydroPen fire protection system across its entire fleet. The HydroPen system is designed for direct fire suppression in stacked shipping containers. It is driven entirely by water pressure from the attached deck fire hose. When the water pressure is activated, the turbine drives the HydroPen drilling unit until it penetrates the container door, then the system sprays water into the container to extinguish the fire directly at the source. In the event of a fire high in the container stack, the HydroPen system can be deployed using a telescopic device. In addition to water, the system is also compatible with foam or carbon dioxide.

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