A seafarer has lost his life in the inferno of the newly built container ship Maersk Frankfurt, as firefighters continue to battle the flames three days after the fire broke out on 19 July.
The Panama-flagged 5,920 TEU Maersk Frankfurt, delivered to Japanese tonnage provider Tokei Kaiun from Imabari Shipbuilding in June, is on a three-year time charter to Maersk Line. Bernhard Schulte provides technical management to the ship.
Manned by 21 seafarers, Maersk Frankfurt sent a distress call around 2.30pm local time, while it was in the Arabian Sea, 50 nautical miles off Karwar, India, while sailing from Mundra to Colombo, Sri Lanka
Panama Maritime Authority said in a statement, “The ship’s operator reports a body in the lashing bridge, but it is impossible to reach it because of the flames. The Indian authorities are focusing their efforts to fight the fire and guarantee the safety of the ship and the crew.”
Maersk said in a statement that the crew members immediately initiated firefighting on board the vessel. Additional support to fight the fire was requested from the Indian Coast Guard, which deployed personnel to help.
Indian officials said they suspect a short circuit could have caused the fire, although other media reports speculated that dangerous goods could have been the reason.
Maersk Frankfurt is assigned to the Danish carrier’s Far East Asia-Indian Subcontinent service, on which Ocean Network Express (ONE) is a co-loader. EconDB shows that just two days before the fire, Maersk Frankfurt departed India’s Mundra port for Colombo, expecting to arrive 21 July
A spokesperson for Maersk told Container News: “It is with deep regret that the ship managers have confirmed the passing of one of the crew members following the fire incident. The rest of the crew members are safe and accounted for. The vessel owner and ship managers are in touch with the crew and are ensuring all possible support is extended to them.”
She added that while no visible flames are being reported from the vessel, smouldering from containers continues today (22 July). Tokei Kaiun has engaged a salvage company, and firefighting specialists are on their way to board the vessel and assess the situation.
Maersk’s spokesperson stated that Maersk Frankfurt is reportedly in stable condition, with all machinery, steering and navigational equipment fully operational.
The spokesperson said that General Average (GA) has been declared on the unaffected containers.
She said, “Once the onboard containers are discharged from the vessel at a safe location, they would not be released for on-carriage or delivery until cargo interests have made the required security arrangements through GA adjusters. At the moment, we are unable to confirm the extent of the fire’s impact on the cargo. We remain in constant touch with the vessel owner and ship managers.”
She stressed that the cause of the fire is not known yet, adding that putting out the blaze is the present priority.’
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
