A fire broke out at Egypt’s Port Said last night after a container ship hit a gantry crane while leaving the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT), a source who wished to remain anonymous told World Maritime News.
The crane’s boom collapsed onto several containers on the berth around midnight local time, May 2, triggering the fire, media reports state.
Some sources indicate that the fire was caused by the crane boom hitting a fuel tank, while other sources suggest that some of the containers damaged in the accident were carrying flammable cargo.
Around 20 containers were damaged by flames, and four people were reportedly injured during the incident.
The Port Said Authority and the Suez Canal Authority intervened in order to put the fire under control. The flames were tackled by fire trucks and by tugs which managed to contain the fire in the early morning hours of May 3.
The boxship involved in the accident is identified by several sources as the 13,092 TEU Cosco Hope. The 2012-built, 366-meter long vessel is still anchored at Port Said, according to AIS data.
The vessel did not suffer any significant damage.
The Port Said Authority have not yet responded to World Maritime News’ inquiries about the accident.
Our source also told us that all the activity at the SCCT terminal is now stopped due to electricity safety issue and that the gantry crane struck last night is the same crane that was hit in November 2015 by the Singapore-flagged container ship owned by APL.
World Maritime News Staff; Image courtesy: WMN Reader