No casualties have been reported after an explosion and fire on a containership in Vietnam.
The blaze was quickly extinguished on the 500-teu Morning Vinafco (built 1996) at Ben Nghe port in Ho Chi Minh City on 3 September, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
According to the master of the Vinafco Shipping-operated feedership, 59-year-old Nguyen Tan Hung, the blaze started in a 20-foot box containing packaging that had been loaded from Ben Nghe port and placed in a hold that morning.
Before the fire, welding was being carried out near cargo and an explosion was heard, the report said.
The border guard force at Ben Nghe port, the Khanh Hoi port border guard station, a waterway police team and fire and rescue personnel were all involved in the operation to douse the flames.
Water was sprayed on to the fire for about 30 minutes.
The ship had arrived from Da Nang in Vietnam that day.
No injuries were reported among the crew of 17.
An investigation has begun into the incident.
The Morning Vinafco has no port state control detentions on its record.
TradeWinds has reported that boxship fires, which have troubled cargo insurers over the past two to three years, remain a problem, as evidenced by the casualty of the 2,742-teu X-Press Pearl (built 2020) this year.
But container losses at sea in heavy weather have started to increase during a boom in the boxship markets.
