Video: Decommissioned Tanker Catches Fire Anchored off Trinidad

 

[Brief] Port officials are calling it an accident after a decommissioned oil tanker caught fire anchored at the Port of Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Tuesday, May 14. There were no reports of injuries or oil pollution, but the smokey fire drew wide attention.

The fire alarm was sounded shortly before 9:00 a.m. local time and the Coast Guard, Port Authority, and Fire Department all responded to the blaze. The tanker was named Aqua Marine. Reports are that the vessel had been abandoned off Trinidad possibly a decade ago. It was acquired by a local company that was scrapping the vessel on-site.

 

 

 

 

The National Energy Corporation of Trinidad was asked to assist and sent one of its large tugboats with firefight capabilities. The National Energy Resilience, which has a capacity of 1200 to 1400 cubic meters per hour of water or foam, was dispatched and after about three hours the flames were extinguished.

An initial investigation called it an accident. They believe workers were on the tanker and a spark ignited residual oil on board. The videos show the stern section of the tanker fully engulfed the fire. A barge, C Neptune, was alongside and may have been damaged as well.