Sri Lankan firefighters were tackling a blaze on a brand new X-Press Feeders containership on Friday.

The Sri Lankan navy had received a distress call from the 2,743-teu X-Press Pearl (built 2021) on 20 May.

The vessel was anchored off Colombo at the time.

Photos released by the navy show the ship engulfed in smoke and orange flames erupting from the bow.

The navy sent offshore patrol vessels and a fast attack craft to the scene.

A tug from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was brought in to tackle the fire.

A team comprising Sri Lanka navy and SLPA personnel managed to board on the evening of 20 May to inspect the vessel.

A chemical reaction was suspected as a cause of the incident, the team reported.

The vessel remained anchored 9.5 nautical miles (18 km) north-west of Colombo harbour on Friday.

Fire started in deck container

The company said in a statement that an "on-deck container" caught fire on 20 May.

"The vessel had taken all precautionary measures throughout the night. However, firefighting is still underway with assistance of tugs sent by local authorities", X-Press Feeders added on Friday.

"Together with local authorities, X-Press Feeders is actively working on various solutions to put out the fire/smoke on board the vessel, whilst maintaining the safety of our crew," the company said.

The ship is deployed in the Straits Middle East SMX service.

The situation is being closely monitored, while executives are examining alternative options to ensure minimal disruption to the SMX run.

Chemicals on board

The fire on board X-Press Pearl broke out off Sri Lanka. Photo: Sri Lanka Navy

The Singapore-flagged ship has 1,486 containers on board, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other chemicals and cosmetics, Sri Lankan media reported.

It had arrived from the port of Hazira, India, on 19 May.

The X-Press Pearl's 25 crew are from the Philippines, China, India and Russia.

The sub-panamax ship was ordered for $30m in 2018 and is now worth $45m, according to VesselsValue.

It has protection and indemnity cover through the London P&I Club.

Delivered in February

The ship was delivered from the Zhoushan Changhong yard in China in February.

Boxship fires have seldom been out of the news.

Mediterranean Shipping Co was forced to take action to avoid declaration of a general average after an AP Moller-Maersk boxship was disabled by fire off Portugal in December 2020.

The 13,100-teu Maersk Elba (built 2010) suffered the blaze in its engine room at the end of December while en route from Suez to Felixstowe.

In September, a Mitsui OSK Lines containership suffered a blaze off Sri Lanka.

The 8,110-teu MOL Charisma (built 2007) was diverted to Colombo as a result.

In May, China Cosco Shipping was hit with its second major casualty off South Africa in a week following a fire on one of its boxships.

A cargo fire was reported on the 4,253-teu Cosco Sao Paulo (built 2013), operated by the Chinese shipping giant's Cosco Shipping Lines, off Cape Agulhas.

The incident resulted in the vessel being escorted to a safe anchorage in Table Bay.