Hell on


Water:


Container fires on ships are becoming increasingly common and dangerous


BY CHARLIE BARTLETT


In the early hours of the morning on May 24, an explosion was heard and a fire identified on the South Korean- flagged, 1,585-TEU KMTC Hong Kong as she sat quayside in Laem Chabang, Thailand. The fire spread throughout containers understood to be carrying noxious substances.


From across the river, a video was recorded and uploaded to YouTube showing a thick column of smoke becoming a sequence of plumes as devastating explosions occurred – apparently the result of tank containers carrying paraffin. Soon locals were reporting a burning sensation on their skin and breathing difficulties. A few hours later, 37 had been admitted to the hospital, poisoned or with fire or chemical burns. Some 143 were affected by chemicals in the smoke.


At the last update, the fire and explosions had encompassed


35 boxes, and 200 people were receiving medical treatment. Local news reports noted, as if in explanation, that the vessel had more than ten containers on board loaded with calcium hypochlorite.


Fires on container ships and the deaths associated with them are – as with various catastrophes in our modern age – threatening to become so frequent as to appear mundane. Not all of them, thankfully, have resulted in loss of life, but many have.


Perhaps they are inevitable. Vessels are getting larger. It might be thought that there’s bound to be a container – one in thousands – the contents of which are dangerous but may have been misdeclared or not declared at all.


But with seafarer lives on the line and the sustainability of the maritime industry in general at stake, decisive action is required.


The Culprit


The culprit is hazardous cargoes, and by this what is almost always meant is one in particular: calcium hypochlorite or, to the rest of us, bleach. When loading these boxes, shipping lines place them on the outermost corners of the stack, ensuring that any blaze will be vented into the open air and, in theory, dispersed much more easily. It doesn’t always work. It’s never a surprise when those containers adjacent to a blazing box catch fire too.


But to place one at the top corner of the stack is to effectively halve the chances of this happening. However, thanks to their limited availability, these spaces carry a premium. Many shippers are unwilling to shoulder the extra cost and so, rather than declaring their cargo carries a shipment of calcium hypochlorite, they will lie, sending their boxes to the bottom or middle of the stack.


The Report • March 2020 • Issue 91 | 47


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