Four Crew Members Missing After Cargo Ship Fire

A 353-meter MV Maersk Honam caught fire this past Tuesday on one of its cargo holds.

Four of the members aboard the container ship are missing. 23 crew members were able to evacuate to a nearby container ship- the ALS Ceres. The ship was already carrying 7860 containers.

The vessel has been on fire for three days straight. The Indian Coast Guard released the first images exposing the fire’s damage to the ship which has affected the forward part of the ship all the way to the vessel’s superstructure. According to the Coast Guard, the fire covers a space of 100 meters by 60 meters. The ship reported an explosion and fire with flames measuring up to 25 meters in height. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

The vessel was in the Arabian Sea, around 900 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman.  One of the evacuated crew members died from injuries sustained in the fire. Two other crew members sustained serious injuries and were transferred to an Indian Navy vessel for medical care after their condition worsened on Wednesday. The crew members who boarded the ALS Ceres are en route to Cochin, South West India. Maersk has arranged for medical professionals and crisis psychologists to meet them at their destination.