MAERSK FRANKFURT

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Fire still on after more thant two weeks

Aboard the 'Maersk Frankfurt' in the Arabian Sea, extinguishing work was still underway on the ship. Containers on board continued to smoke. There were no longer visible flames. The shp is under the management of Bernard Schulte and thus did not have a Maersk crew on board. The Indian Coastguard continued to assist in the ship fire.

Fire still active in Bay 18

On July 30 firefighting efforts aboard the 'Maersk Frankfurt' continued tio be led by the crew and the Indian Coast Guard. The Indian Coast Guard has directed the vessel further offshore into deep water. The current position was approximately 50 nautical miles south of New Mangalore, which was serving as the base of operations. The ICG has employed five vessels, two helicopters, and its Dornier aircraft in the firefight. Over 1,200 kg of dry chemical powder has been air dropped into the area of the fire yet pockets of fire and hotspots persist. Two Coast Guard vessels have been alongside spraying millions of gallons of water on the fire and cooling the area, while the Coast Guard has reported the primary fire was doused. However, smoke continued to billow from the area where stacks of boxes have collapsed. Infra-red imagery revealed a reduction in hotspots with the fire primarily around Bay 18 on the starboard side. There was no explanation on what continued to feed the fire, but the cargo manifest reflected that there are dangerous materials aboard the vessel, including chemicals such as benzene and sodium cyanate. The Coast Guard also assisted in embarking five salvors onto the ship. The Japanese owner company has hired a specialized salvage agency to manage firefighting and disposal efforts. Three tugs were initially in the area assisting and shuttling equipment to the vessel. An additional tug arrived on July 28, and by July 30 the AHTS 'Valiant' was due to arrive en route from Sharjah. Despite the challenging conditions, the situation remained under control.

Response to fire entered the 10th day

Five Coast Guard ships, two ALHs (Advanced Light Helicopters) and a Dornier aircraft have undertaken multiple sorties as part of ‘Operation Sahayata during the efforts of the Indian Coast Guard to prevent pollution and safeguard the marine environment after the fire aboard the 'Maersk Frankfurt' off the Karwar coast, which entered its 10th day on July 28. More than 1,200 kg of Dry Chemical powder has been airdropped at the seat of the fire. ICG ships were undertaking boundary cooling and extinguishing sporadic minor flames that erupted from time to time due to the initial incineration of sealed containers on the vessel. When the vessel reported a major fire around 80 nautical miles west of Goa on July 19, it was carrying 1,154 containers, including some with dangerous goods like benzene and sodium cyanate. The vessel was structurally stable and remained operational. The Coast Guard has repositionedthe ‘Samudra Prahari’, a specialised pollution control vessel, since the commencement of Operation Sahayata to New Mangalore to take corrective measures in an unlikely case of pollution. The ICG has also undertaken two coordination meetings with DG Shipping, state administration, stakeholders, ports, salvage agency, ship owners and management to review the progress and find an early end to the crisis. The situation was under control and risk to the marine environment and coastal areas does not exist. The vessel has both power and propulsion and was being kept at a distance of more than 24 nautical miles (India’s Contiguous Zone Limit) at all times. Report with photo: https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Day-10-Coast-Guard-continues-to-battle-fire-on-Maersk-Frankfurt/224153#google_vignette