The container ship Yantian Express that burst into flames on 3 January has reached the Port of Freeport, Bahamas. The ships is now waiting for clearance to enter the port, and then the recovery and assessment efforts of the cargo will begin.
According to sources, Hapag Lloyd confirmed that cargo in the ship’s first 12 bays, and some of the cargo in the two holds beneath those bays, was impacted. However, a precise estimation of the damage is not possible at the moment.
The fire broke out on 3 January in one of the containers onboard the 7,510 TEU container ship ‘Yantian Express’ approximately 1,015 miles northeast of Bermuda and spread to additional containers. The ship was en route from Colombo to Halifax via the Suez Canal, at the time of the incident.
On the aftermath, 11 non-essential crew members were evacuated to the tugboat Smit Nicobar and Sunday morning all remaining crew were evacuated to the Smit Nicobar, because the fire was not successfully contained. All of the crewmen are safe.
Immediate efforts were launched to put out the fire, but they had to be stopped because of a deterioration of weather conditions.
