COSCO Boxship Suffers Container Fire

alt — The Cosco Pacific departing Hamburg for Antwerp, 2012 (file image courtesy Briyyz / Flickr)

[Brief] The container ship Cosco Pacific suffered a container fire last weekend, forcing her to divert to the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

During a voyage from Port Klang, Malaysia to Nhava Sheva, India, one container caught fire in one of the vessel's cargo holds, the line said in a customer advisory. The blaze was contained, and no injuries were reported.

The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the affected cargo will likely be offloaded and inspected in Colombo.

Cosco has asked affected customers to step forward and report voluntarily if they may have misdeclared any cargo currently stowed on the vessel. Improperly categorized dangerous goods (misdeclared cargoes) are one of the leading causes of container ship fires, and they are believed to be a target of the inquiry into the fire aboard the Cosco Pacifc.

The 10,000 TEU Cosco Pacific normally operates on a rotation between China, Malaysia and India. Her schedule is delayed until further notice.