The asphalt carrier ‘Amber Bay’ suffered an engine room fire as it began to depart the New York Harbor area, at the night of Wednesday, December 19. The vessel is disabled and the United States Coast Guard is coordinating the response operations.
The 479-foot tanker with 22 crew aboard had a fire ignite in the engine room shortly before 8:00 p.m. The crew was able to quickly extinguish the fire using their installed fire suppression system.
At 8:05 p.m., the crew alerted watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New York about the engine room fire and that the vessel was now disabled which means it is unable to sail in a seaworthy state as a result of the damages caused by the fire.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Coast Guard Cutter Shrike, an 87-foot Patrol Boat, and crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook aboard a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat were dispatched to the incident along with New York police department (NYPD) and New York fire department (FDNY) marine units. FDNY personnel boarded the vessel and entered the engine room to ensure the fire was extinguished.
A safety zone is now in place and a plan is currently being developed to salvage the stricken vessel.
For the time being, there are no reported injuries or pollution in the area.
