Explosion and fire on MSC container ship at Colombo port

According to local reports, an explosion followed by a fire below deck on the MSC Capetown III occurred at 00:30 on 11 August.

The SLPA said the fire broke out while the ship was berthing at Jetty IV of the Jaya Container Terminal at the Colombo Port and that “All operations staff and crews were safely evacuated from the ship”.

On Monday (12 August), the port authority said the fire had been completely extinguished.

About 60 containers on deck in the area where the explosion occurred have been removed from the ship, including one containing dangerous goods.

SLPA chairman Keith D. Bernard said an investigation into the incident would be launched with a comprehensive report being prepared and that insurers would also conduct their own investigations.

The Portuguese-flagged MSC Capetown III, built in 2006, arrived in Colombo on Sunday afternoon after departing from Singapore and managed by MSC Shipmanagement in Cyprus. The ship was scheduled to unload 995 containers and load another 885 at the Colombo port.

This is the second explosion and fire on a container ship to dock in the port in three days. On August 9, a major explosion and fire broke out from containers loaded on the Yang Ming YM Mobility while it was docked at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan port.

Source: Phaata.com (via Seatrade-Maritime)

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