Maersk Kensington suffers container fire

The 6,188 TEU Maersk Kensington reported a fire in a container of the cargo hold while en route from Salalah -Oman- to Suez on Thursday evening. The fire was contained using all the CO2 systems and all 26 crew on board are reported to be safe and accounted for. The vessel is currently anchored outside the port of Salalah.

This tragedy comes less than two weeks after the fatal fire on board the Maersk Honam in the Arabian sea.

According to seatrade-maritime.com Maersk Line said the cause of the fire is unknown. “However, initial investigation indicate there is no link between the cargo in the cargo hold where the fire began on Maersk Kensington and the cargo in the cargo hold which caught fire on Maersk Honam on 6 March 2018.”

The Kensington is part of the US-flagged Maersk Line Limited fleet. The vessel had 3,518 containers onboard, corresponding to 5,616 TEU.

The container fire comes less than two weeks after the a serious fire erupted on the 15,252 teu Maersk Honam, leaving four dead, and another missing and believed dead. The vessel's crew evacuated the Maersk Honam after they were unable to bring the blaze under control.

The fire on board the Honam has again raised concerns over the fire safety on container vessels and the misdeclaration of dangerous cargoes, although the cause of the fire remains unknown.