A Swire Shipping multi-purpose containership has suffered a fire while alongside at New Zealand’s Port of Tauranga.
The fire broke out on the 981-teu geared Kokopo Chief (built 1991) in the early hours of Sunday morning in the vessel’s cargo hold.
Swire Shipping said the crew had detected smoke and rising temperatures and had activated the ship’s CO2 system to contain the fire.
The Singapore-based shipowner told TradeWinds that after six hours that the temperature within the hold had fallen and an investigation into the incident was launched.
“The cargo of dressed timber was stacked 30 metre high in a hold of the ship. When firefighters opened the hold, the fire was out and only the top layer of the timber was burnt,” a fire service spokesman told local media.
“Firefighters were working with stevedores to remove the burnt timber,” he added.
