On 14th May, a Unified Command consisting of the Coast Guard, the State of California, and Resolve Marine responded to a fire aboard a container ship approximately 50 miles west off the coast of Monterey.
The motor vessel NYK Delphinus contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders at approximately 4:54 a.m., reporting an engine fire aboard the ship.
For the records, there were 24 people onboard, while no injuries were reported.
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Following the incident, watchstanders directed the launch of the Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye crew to assess the situation and two Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews.
The aircrew arrived on scene at 9:26 a.m., and transferred a dewatering pump to the Delphinus crew. A Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan crew went on scene, in order to provide surveillance of the vessel.
Resolve Marine contracted five tugboats to assist. Namely, the tugs Jamie Ann, Sarah Avrick, Delta Deanna and Delta Lindsay arrived on scene and sprayed water on the Delphinus hull to provide additional cooling measures.
The fifth tugboat, Scorpio along with a salvage master offered additional firefighting capabilities.
Concluding, current plans include determining the ship’s structural integrity before towing it to Oakland.
