“ZIM KINGSTON” container ship caught fire after a storm

The “ZIM KINGSTON” container ship encountered a storm when it was about to arrive at the Port of Vancouver, Canada, causing about 40 containers to fall into the sea. The accident occurred close to the Juan de Fuca Strait. Eight containers have been found, and two of the missing containers contained potentially spontaneous combustion. Hazardous substances.

According to the US Coast Guard, "ZIM KINGSTON" reported the collapse of container stacks on deck, and two of the broken containers also contained the same dangerous and combustible materials.

The ship arrived at berth in the waters near Victoria at around 1800 UTC on October 22.

However, on October 23, two containers with dangerous goods on the ship caught fire at around 11:00 local time after being damaged.

According to the Canadian Coast Guard, about 10 containers caught fire at around 23:00 that night, and the fire was spreading further. The ship itself is not currently on fire.

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According to the Canadian Coast Guard, 16 of the 21 seafarers on board have been evacuated urgently. The other five seafarers will stay on board to cooperate with the fire-fighting authorities. The entire crew of the ZIM KINGSTON, including the captain, has been recommended by the Canadian authorities to abandon the ship.

The Canadian Coast Guard also disclosed preliminary information that the fire started from inside some damaged containers on the ship. At about 6:30 in the afternoon that day, there was a fire in 6 containers. It is certain that 2 of them contained 52,080 kg potassium amyl xanthate.

The substance is an organic sulfur compound. This product is a light yellow powder, soluble in water, and has a pungent odor. It is widely used in the mining industry to separate ores using a flotation process. Contact with water or steam will release flammable gas.

After the accident, as the container ship continued to burn and emit toxic gases, the Coast Guard established an emergency area of ​​1.6 kilometers around the container ship that broke down. The Coast Guard also advised unrelated personnel to stay away from the area.

After investigation, there are no products such as shelving, ladders or hand trolleys produced by our company on the ship, please rest assured.


Post time: Oct-23-2021