At about 14:30 local time on July 19, the container ship “Maersk Frankfurt”, chartered by Maersk of Denmark, exploded and caused a fire while sailing in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India, about 50 nautical miles from Karwar, India.
According to the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA), the fire accident has resulted in one death of a crew member from the Philippines. There were 21 crew members on board at the time of the incident, including 17 Filipinos, two Ukrainians, one Russian and one Montenegrin.
In a statement, the PMA said, “There was one person killed in the area of the lashing bridge of the container ship Maersk Frankfurt, but the fire was too intense to approach. Indian authorities are focusing on extinguishing the fire to ensure the safety of the vessel and crew.”
Maersk has now released a statement confirming the details of the fire. It added: “The container ship is currently in a stable condition and it is not possible to confirm the extent of the fire’s impact on the container ship Maersk Frankfurt. The safety of the crew remains the top priority now.”
There were reports that the Maersk Frankfurt was carrying dangerous cargo, but Maersk did not mention this in its statement. Reuters had previously reported that the explosion and fire on the Maersk Frankfurt was caused by a short circuit.
It is understood that the container ship “Maersk Frankfurt” is owned by TOKEI KAIUN and leased by Maersk, and was completed and delivered by Imabari Shipbuilding in Japan on May 31 this year. The container ship has an overall length of 254.94 meters, a breadth of 40.00 meters, a depth of 21.70 meters, with a gross tonnage of 57,872 tons. Equipped with a 6G80ME-C10.6 engine, it has a speed of about 21.5 knots, is classed by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) and flies the Panamanian flag.
According to Imabari Shipbuilding, the container ship can carry up to about 5,920 standard containers, and is equipped with up to three lashing bridges on deck, allowing it to carry a large number of refrigerated containers in the holds and on deck, as well as a variety of dangerous goods as specified in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
As of the the incident, the Maersk Frankfurt had been delivered less than two months. It is said that the container ship was delivered by Imabari Shipbuilding and then passed through the ports of Tianjin, Dalian, Pusan, Ningbo and Qingdao before berthing at the Malaysian port and arriving at the ports of India and Pakistan. This voyage departed from Mundra, India on July 17th and was scheduled to arrive in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 21st.