Major fire on KMTC container ship in Thailand; Industry tracks dramatic rise in container ship fires

Major fire on KMTC container ship in Thailand – worst scenario live UPDATE
Mikhail Voytenko May 28, 2019

May 28 UPDATE: Thailand Port Authority TPA director Kamolsak Phromprayoon said on May 27, that the overall damage from KMTC HONGKONG explosions and major fire, would exceed $3.1 mil. Thailand authorities and all affected by accident, seem to go after cargo owners in order to get compensation. The ship arrived at Laem Chabang after calling Busan Korea, and Chinese ports, chemicals which exploded and went on fire are as of now, believed to be either not declared, or declared as non-hazardous. As of now, TPA is collecting data from all affected people and businesses, to estimate the extent of damages. Thailand will probably, set up a special working group with relevant agencies to investigate the full extent of the impact from the chemical contamination on people’s health and the environment, being already pressed to do so by environmentalists.
According to Pollution Control Department’s report, hazardous pollutants such as Volatile Organic Compounds, formaldehyde and chlorine gas have been released by explosion and ensuing fire, and all of them can cause long-term health impacts.

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Industry tracks dramatic rise in container ship fires?
Toby Gooley May 28, 2019

A series of fires on container ships this year alone has left importers with delayed, damaged, or destroyed cargo—and big insurance bills. Experts say there could be more to come.

In the first three months of 2019, the maritime industry set what may be a record for the largest number of container ship fires in the shortest amount of time. Between January 1 and the middle of March, fires on board six ships had delayed, damaged, or destroyed hundreds of cargo containers:

On Jan. 3, a container on the Yantian Express caught fire off Canada's Eastern Seaboard. More than 260 boxes were destroyed.
On Jan. 29, the Olga Maersk was sidelined in Panama after a fire broke out in its engine room.
On Jan. 31, the APL Vancouver was stricken off the coast of Vietnam by a fire that started in a cargo bay.
On Feb. 13, a fire broke out in containers of charcoal on the E.R. Kobe near China. The ship was diverted to Hong Kong to unload the damaged boxes; three more containers caught fire as the ship continued on to Shanghai.
On Mar. 6, the giant Maersk Honam caught fire off of India, killing five crew members. It took five days to get the fire under control.
On Mar. 10, a container on the combined container/auto carrier Grande America caught fire off the coast of France. As the ship became engulfed in flames, crew members evacuated in lifeboats and were later rescued by a British naval vessel. The ship capsized and sank the following day.

continue...https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20190524-industry-tracks-dramatic-ri...