Marie Maersk Resumes Voyage with No Visible Damage From Container Fire

The large Maersk containership, Marie Maersk, which has been battling a container fire for nearly two weeks, is reportedly back underway after teams determined it is safe for the vessel to proceed. With the help of external firefighting teams and equipment brought out to the ship while it was off Africa, Maersk has reported that the fire was contained.

The company released two pictures taken on Friday, August 22, when a supply vessel reached the scene with additional firefighting equipment. There is no visible fire damage to any of the boxes aboard what appears to be a heavily laden vessel. The ship has a rated capacity of just over 19,000 TEU. 

“After an inspection of affected areas of the vessel and careful consideration of all aspects together with authorities and class, it was deemed safe that Marie Maersk resumes her eastbound voyage around Cape of Good Hope on Sunday. Her next port of destination is under final review, and we will inform as soon as it has been decided,” Maersk reported. 

 

Marie Maersk with no visible fire damage to the containers aboard (Maersk)

 

The containership had spent a week lying off the west coast of Liberia after smoke was first detected coming from containers on August 13. The ship was moved closer to the coast so that fire equipment could be brought out. Late last week, the ship rounded the western coast of Africa and was then met with additional supplies offshore near Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire).

A supply vessel with additional firefighting equipment reached the Marie Maersk on Friday evening and transferred special equipment onboard on Saturday, August 23. The AIS signal for the ship shows it now underway with a declared destination of Cape Town, South Africa. Its routing called for a stop in Malaysia before proceeding to China. The company has repeated said the navigational equipment and machinery was not damaged, and the ship was stable.

Maersk reports that the external firefighting team will remain on board, and “special measures” have been put in place to ensure a safe journey. An intermediate stop might be implemented, Maersk said, depending on the optimal place for handling the damaged containers and to mitigate onward disruptions in its network. Contingencies are in place in case the planned journey needs to be revised en route.

The company has not advised on the location of the boxes that were smoking or the nature of the cargo. In general, mis-declared and improperly packaged cargo is one of the most frequent dangers cited for the containership. Maersk has said the full extent of the damage would not be known until the vessel reaches a port and unloads containers from the area where the fire was located.