Cargo ship carrying burning lithium ion batteries reaches Alaska but is kept offshore amid frantic battle to extinguish the blaze as crew fears explosion
- The Genius Star
- The 19-man crew managed to reach the coast without injuries
- A team of maritime firefighting experts are currently trying to extinguish the fire before the ship can get closer than 3 km from the coast
A large cargo ship carrying lithium batteries that caught fire has reached Alaska but remains held two miles offshore as emergency workers try to extinguish the blaze.
According to the US Coast Guard, the 19-strong crew managed to reach the coast without any injuries.
The Genius Star
The fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1, a spokesman for ship owner Wisdom Marine Group said.
The crew worked quickly to release carbon dioxide into the hold and sealed it off to prevent a possible explosion.
The Genius Star
They then alerted the Coast Guard early Thursday morning, who diverted the 400-foot cargo ship to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports, located in Unalaska, an Aleutian island community about 775 miles (1,287 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.
The ship arrived Friday but was ordered to stay away from the coast to “mitigate the risks associated with burning lithium-ion batteries or toxic gases produced by the fire,” according to Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mike Salerno told The Associated Press.
“The city's primary concern is to protect the health and safety of our community members, the environment, fisheries and commerce,” Marjie Veeder, Unalaska's acting city manager, said in a statement.
Veeder said the city's emergency operations center “acts on behalf of the community and advocates our position to protect our community.”
“We are actively monitoring the situation,” he added.
“The safety of the residents of Unalaska and surrounding communities is a top priority for us, so out of an abundance of caution we are maintaining a 1.61 kilometer safety zone around the ship,” Salerno said.
The owners said there were no oil leaks associated with the incident.
A team of maritime firefighting experts conducted an assessment of the ship late Friday and found no signs of structural deformation or blistering outside the cargo hold, the Coast Guard said.
That team will remain aboard the ship to assess the situation, Salerno said.