Injured Crewman of Fire-Stricken Maersk Honam Passes Away

One of the evacuated crew members of Maersk Honam has passed away due to the injuries sustained in connection to the fire that broke out on board the Singapore-flagged containership on March 6.

The health condition of the mariner, a Thai national, drastically deteriorated Wednesday afternoon, Maersk Line said in an update.

23 crew members of 27 on board were evacuated from the distressed vessel, while four sailors remain unaccounted for.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our colleagues who in the first place had been evacuated. The seriousness of the event has escalated and everyone in Maersk is moved by this. We are in contact with the family of the deceased and our thoughts and condolences go to them,” Søren Toft, Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Board of A.P. Moller – Maersk, said.

As informed, the remaining 22 crew members are en route to Sri Lanka on board the vessel ALS Ceres.

“We are doing our utmost in this tragic situation to care for all evacuated colleagues and continue the intense search and rescue operations ongoing for the four crew members currently reported missing,” Toft added.

The 15,262 TEU vessel Maersk Honam reported a serious fire in a cargo hold on Wednesday while underway from Singapore towards Suez.

The vessel is currently positioned around 900 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman. The fire onboard the Maersk Honam continues and the situation of the vessel is very critical.

A number of container vessels have diverted their route to assist in the search and rescue operation which continues. Currently, five vessels are involved, Maersk Line said.

The container vessel Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller is acting the coordinating efforts.

The vessel is carrying a total of 7,860 containers, corresponding to 12,416 TEU.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.