ZIM confirms blaze on ship off Colombo
Officials at Israeli carrier ZIM have confirmed that a fire ripped through the 8,586 teu "ZIM Charleston" 11 days ago in the Indian Ocean, with the ship showing no signs of leaving its mooring at Colombo port as accident investigators look into the latest blaze to hit the liner business
Tel Aviv - Officials at Israeli carrier ZIM have confirmed that a fire ripped through the 8,586 teu "ZIM Charleston" 11 days ago in the Indian Ocean, with the ship showing no signs of leaving its mooring at Colombo port as accident investigators look into the latest blaze to hit the liner business. According to insurance firm WK Webster the fire erupted in cargo hold 4 and up to 300 containers may have been damaged in the fire.
The "ZIM Charleston" is chartered by ZIM and owned by Seaspan: “We can confirm that a fire erupted on the 'ZIM Charleston', and the vessel is now in Colombo. According to information received from the owner, the fire took place under deck in a [dangerous goods] hold and first response to the fire was carried out by the vessel’s crew,” a spokesperson for ZIM told Splash.
The incident is still under investigation and at the first response phase. Liner shipping has been chastened by statistics from insurers that suggest a major fire takes place on a containership every 60 days. According to the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), nearly 25% of all serious incidents onboard containerships are attributable to misdeclared cargo.