Maersk Containership Reports Box Fire and Diverts Off Africa for Assistance
One of Maersk’s largest containerships, Marie Maersk (19,076 TEU), has reported a container fire as it was sailing southward along the African coast. The company is reporting that the crew is safe and the vessel is in a “stable condition,” as they were receiving landside support.
“On the morning of August 13, the crew of the Marie Maersk detected smoke coming from containers onboard the vessel,” the company said in a brief statement. “The crew is following all necessary safety and firefighting procedures and is working to keep the situation under control while external firefighting support is being organized.”
The 213,971 dwt ship departed Rotterdam on August 6, bound for Malaysia and then ports in China. Maersk reports it is off the coast of Liberia, and it was diverted towards the West African coast to get landside support as fast as possible.
Two tugboats with firefighting equipment reached the ship on the evening of August 13. AIS signals show the vessel moving at just 1.5 knots with the tugs Captain Cat and Med Rigel nearby. In addition, the Maersk Savannah (9,662 TEU) appears to be standing by its fleet mate as it is also showing a speed of 1.5 knots on its AIS signal.
Maersk states that at this time it “cannot confirm the extent of the fire’s impact on the cargo.” The vessel, which is 1,039 feet (399 meters) in length, is part of the Triple E class and entered service in 2013. It is a large class of vessels built in South Korea and among the largest in the Maersk fleet.
Box fires remain one of the biggest problems for containerships, with multiple groups warning of the issues of mis-declared or improperly packed cargo. In July 2024, one crewmember was killed during a box fire aboard the Maersk Frankfurt while the vessel was off the coast of India. The fire persisted for days with extensive efforts by the Indian Coast Guard to douse the fire. Four months later, Rhine Maersk was forced to divert to Tenerife in the Canary Islands after the crew detected dangerously high temperatures in several cargo containers. It was determined to be a self-heat situation from containers filled with coal or charcoal, and the port’s fire team helped to extinguish the fire before it could get out of control.
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