U.S. Coast Guard said a large cargo ship with an active fire in its hold is being kept offshore of an Alaska port as a precaution while efforts are undertaken to extinguish the flames.
A large cargo ship with a fire in its hold is being kept 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) offshore of an Alaska port as a precaution while efforts are undertaken to extinguish the flames, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday.
There were no injuries to the 19 crew members aboard the Genius Star XI, which was carrying a load of lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego, the guard’s Alaska district said in a release.
The fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1, a spokesperson for ship owner Wisdom Marine Group said in a statement. The crew released carbon dioxide into the hold and sealed it over concerns of an explosion.
Ship’s personnel alerted the Coast Guard early Thursday morning about the fire. The Coast Guard said it diverted the 410-foot (125-meter) cargo ship to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports located in Unalaska, an Aleutian Islands community about 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.
An expert hired by the Taipei, Taiwan-based Wisdom Marine Group “is working diligently to create contingency plans, arrange for a firefighting team, and ensure the necessary equipment is in place,’ the group said in a statement.
Yeah right. They're frantically trying to figure out how to dump the container overboard and whether the penalties would cost less than losing the boats cargo.
I believe that lithium ion and lithium iron phosphate fires are generally put out by lowering the temperature of the reaction to the point that it can't self sustain. Dumping it overboard in a vast supply of frigid water actually would put it out, provided it sinks.
It's also a really really bad idea environmentally.
That is not the point. The company has to evaluate if cleaning up properly costs more than the fines of dumping the cargo in the sea. They don't care about the batteries anymore, they just want to minimize losses.
Apparently some larger airliners have a similar mechanism for the cargo hold of the aircraft. The system is sometimes referred to as "the puppy snuffer" :(
The "puppy snuffer" is the cargo heat outflow valve. Cargo isn't heated unless needed, for example where the manifest says there's animals there. It has nothing to do with fire suppression systems.
But no one should be flying with their pets anyways. Get a sitter, or if you're moving forever, drive there. Even if moving across the ocean, I'd rather spend over a week on a boat (or even give my dog up to someone else) than subject him all alone to the stress of an airplane's cargo hold.
Eh? My wife flew from the PNW to France with our cat when we moved. She gave her half a dose of the veterinarian prescribed knockout juice and she was completely fine. Of course, she wasn't in the hold, but still.
It was burning, past tense, and besides, those batteries don't detonate. I'm pleasantly surprised they have a CO2 mitigation system and ability to seal the cargo hold. Had no idea that was a thing!
Get it into port where you got the resources to have a look, get the crew offboard, experts onboard. Sounds like a sane plan to me.
A large cargo ship with a fire in its hold is being kept 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) offshore of an Alaska port as a precaution while efforts are undertaken to extinguish the flames, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday.
Timeline -
Fire started Monday. CO2 released then?
Ship told Coast Guard on Thursday, divert order given then?
Ship still burning offshore on Saturday.
Lithium car batteries supply their own oxygen so a simple gas smothering might not work.