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Dangerous fire on the open sea: a cargo ship was in flames for several days off the Canadian island of British Columbia.
The 260 meter long »ZIM Kingston« lost around 40 containers on Saturday in heavy seas.
Shortly afterwards, two more containers on board caught fire.
The fire could not be extinguished with water at first because the burning containers contained a total of 52 tons of unspecified chemicals.
On Sunday the fire could at least be brought under control.
JJ Brickett, Canadian Arts Guard Commander:
“The company itself reports that most of the fire has been extinguished. But it's still smoldering. They tried to let the fire burn down. In other words, the container burns out while everything else around it is cooled so that nothing more ignites. When we look at the pictures, we cannot see any scorching or charring on the adjacent containers. That's a really good sign. "
It is not known why the containers caught fire.
The ship owner announced on Sunday that there were no injuries.
Sixteen crew members were evacuated from the ZIM Kingston after the fire broke out.
Five stayed on board to fight the fire.
Coast guard ships from the USA and Canada are still looking for the damaged containers.
You should be rescued.
At the moment, none of the containers seem to be drifting towards the coast, according to the Coast Guard.
The "IM Kingston" is anchored several kilometers off the south coast of Vancouver Island.
According to official information, the island's residents are not in danger.
But the fire could exacerbate the global congestion in container shipping.
Due to the corona crisis and the one-week blockade in the Suez Canal at the end of March, there are currently massive delivery delays worldwide.
The trade is therefore watching accidents with container ships with concern.
