ZIM Kingston vessel caught fire near Victoria, BC, Canada after losing many containers

Container ship ZIM Kingston caught fire off Victoria, BC, Canada (Image: Canadian Coast Guard)

ZIM Kingston container ship is currently facing a cargo fire after the ship lost about 40 containers in the high seas west of the US-Canada border. The ship is currently anchored in the Juan de Fuca Strait and the situation appears to be deteriorating.

Officials said the ship caught fire Saturday morning while moored, and the crew may need to be completely evacuated.

Sixteen crew members were taken to Ogden Point Pier by the coast guard on Saturday night, although five other crew members remained on board.

A spokesman for the Canadian Coast Guard said the fire broke out aboard the MV Zim Kingston around 11 a.m. Saturday, and involved two damaged containers carrying hazardous materials. The same ship lost about 35-40 containers of cargo in rough seas west of Vancouver Island on Thursday.

In an update Saturday night, the coast guard said that ten containers caught fire, including two carrying more than 52,000 kilograms of Potassium Amylxanthate, a hazardous material used in mining.

The update adds that a Hazmat rescue team is being mobilized from Vancouver, along with a coast guard and tugboat nearby also being mobilized to monitor the situation throughout the night.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported Friday that it observed multiple containers drifting some 43 miles west of the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait, after they crashed from a cargo ship. An update says about 35 containers have been spotted floating and are being tracked as they drift north.

ZIM Kingston drifts about 43 miles west of the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait (Image: USCGPacificNorthwest)

The ship is the Maltese-flagged ZIM Kingston, with a capacity of 4,253 TEU built in 2008.

The ship is currently moored at Constance Bank, in the Juan de Fuca Strait off Victoria, British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, and a fire has broken out in the cargo area. Photos posted online show smoke coming from the ship:

The ZIM Kingston after a fire near Victoria, BC, Canada (Image: Canadian Coast Guard)

ZIM Kingston has experienced high seas due to a strong low pressure system, affecting the area from Thursday to Friday and sometimes with gusts of wind up to 9 meters in this area. The video below was recorded from Thursday:

The ZIM Kingston has experienced large waves due to a strong low pressure system (Image: NWS Seattle)

The AIS system showed that the ship had sailed from Busan, South Korea. Here are some more pictures of the ZIM Kingston off the coast of Victoria:

Current position of the ZIM Kingston (Image: Gcaptain)

Reports now indicate that the crew of ZIM Kingston have been advised to abandon the ship.

A Coast Guard flight on Friday found about 35 containers.

Many cargo containers of the Zim Kingston ship fell into the sea (Image: USCGPacificNorthwest)

The low-pressure system is one of the first major storms to hit the West Coast this season and is causing trouble for shipping containers. A second, potentially stronger storm is expected to affect the West Coast Sunday through Monday.

Source: Phaata.com (According to Globalnews / Gcaptain)

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