VIDEO: Hanjin Boxship Ablaze near Suez Canal

Korean containership Hanjin Green Earth caught fire on Friday, May 1st while underway south of the Suez Canal.

The blaze is said to have started in a stack of containers toward the stern area and has spread to a large number of containers.

Five emergency response vessels were dispatched to the scene by the Suez Canal Authority to put out the fire.

As informed, the flames were extinguished three hours later. There were no injuries reported to the crew.

Local media report that the firefighting activities have been hampered by the inaccessibility of lower containers, adding that despite attempts of the Egyptian Navy and Suez Canal authorities the fire has not yet been contained.

The UK-flagged 13,200 TEU vessel is last reported to be situated north of Port Said, according to the vessel tracking data of the Marine Traffic.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

World Maritime News Staff