Cambodian Cargo Ship Goes Up in Flames in Western Japan

Friday, October 5, 2012 

www.marine-executive.com

 

A Cambodian-flagged cargo ship caught on fire with ten (10) crewmembers onboard in a western Japanese channel today, reports local coast guard authorities.

A coast guard response vessel, as well as a fire department boat, responded to the blaze. They sprayed water at the nearly 1,500-tonne freighter, identified as the HAODA 6. The fire reportedly broke out in the ship’s hold in the waters somewhere between the main Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu.

The freighter made the distress call to maritime authorities at about 3:10 a.m. locally. The billowing smoke stopped coming out of the cargo ship by 10 a.m., but efforts to cool the ship’s hull are continuing, mainly by spraying water on the area. Authorities believe that the fire may still be smoldering inside the vessel.

No injury or oil spill was reported and the ship was towed to a point some 300 meters off port in the city of Kitakyushu.

According to AFP, the HAODA 6 was carrying 980 tonnes of iron scrap from Chiba, near Tokyo, to the eastern Chinese port of Ningbo.