Cargo ship ordered to continue to Alaska despite fire

ANCHORAGE, Alaska –

A cargo vessel carrying lithium-ion batteries has been ordered to proceed to Alaska after a hearth was reported in its cargo maintain.

The U.S. Coast Guard stated Friday the fireplace is contained however ongoing. The 125-metre cargo ship Genius Star XI was directed to proceed to the port at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. A Coast Guard airplane and the Coast Guard ship Alex Haley had been despatched to help.

The ship was positioned about 362 kilometres southwest of Dutch Harbor once they reported the fireplace early Thursday morning, the guard stated in a launch.

The vessel is owned by Knowledge Marine Group of Taipei, Taiwan. A spokesperson stated in an e mail that there have been no accidents to the 19 crew members and no oil has leaked.

It was headed to San Diego with the batteries from Vietnam, the e-mail stated. Crew members launched carbon dioxide into the maintain when the fireplace was detected on Monday.

“Involved concerning the potential threat of explosion, the maintain was saved sealed,” the e-mail stated, including that crew have been monitoring the maintain vents and temperatures.

It was not clear when the vessel would arrive at Dutch Harbor, which is likely one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports. The Coast Guard’s Alaska division workplace in Juneau did not instantly return an e mail Friday afternoon.

When the ship does arrive, it would stay offshore as response crews put together to help, the Coast Guard launch stated.

“This shall be an ongoing group effort as we work to soundly extinguish the fireplace, present any obligatory medical take care of the crew, and mitigate the hazards related to a shipboard hearth,” Capt. Chris Culpepper, commander of Coast Guard Sector Anchorage, stated within the launch.

The guard will examine the reason for the fireplace.

The Genius Star XI left Vietnam on Dec. 10 en path to Dutch Harbor, in line with the Marine Visitors web site. The ship with a carrying capability of greater than 13,000 tons (11,793 metric tonnes) sails underneath the flag of Panama.