The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) has issued a summary report in the English language concerning a fire outbreak aboard the container ship in the Gulf of Aden.
On the morning of 18 June 2013, the crew on the Danish flagged container ship EUGEN MÆRSK discovered a container fire on the aft cargo deck. At the time the ship was in the Gulf of Aden, underway from Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In the days leading up to the fire, the ship had encountered some rough weather resulting in substantial damage to cargo containers and their lashings.
The crew commenced the firefighting effort and managed to contain the fire. The vessel was allowed to enter the Port of Djibouti where they received assistance from local firefighters and Dutch salvage experts. The fire was extinguished on 23 June 2013.
No persons were injured in the fire. There was no pollution and only limited damage to the ship’s structure. A total of 16 cargo containers were damaged or destroyed.
The DMAIB’s main focus in this investigation has been the significance of learning from managing adverse situations, organizational flexibility and adaptability, and the challenges ship crews face when dealing with their everyday tasks.
The report is available at: http://bit.ly/QyeLt7