Ship Carrying Burning Lithiumion Batteries Reaches Alaska, Kept Offshore For Safety
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Saturday in the U.S. COAST GUARD ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A large cargo ship caught fire in storage 2 miles (3.22 km) off the coast of the Port of Alaska as a precaution.
According to the Alaska Coast Guard, 19 crew members were aboard the Genius Star Eleven, which was transporting lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean from Vietnam to San Diego.
A statement from the ship's owner, Wisdom Marine Group, said the fire broke out in warehouse number 1 on Christmas Day. Fearing an explosion, crews released carbon dioxide into the warehouse and shut it down.
The ship's crew reported the fire to the Coast Guard early Thursday morning. The Coast Guard said the 410-foot (125-meter) cargo ship ran into Dolch Harbor, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports, in Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, about 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.
The ship arrived on Friday, but the Genius Star Eleven was ordered to stop approaching the coast "to reduce the risk of catching fire or toxic gases from the lithium-ion batteries on fire," said a Coast Guard lieutenant. Mike Salerno said in a letter to The Associated Press.
"The city's primary mission is to protect the health and safety of our community members, the environment, fisheries and commerce," said Unalaska Acting City Manager Margie Wieder.
Wieder said the city's emergency management center is "working on behalf of the community and taking a position to protect our community. We are actively monitoring the situation."
Any ship that poses a risk of fire forces the Coast Guard to take other safety precautions than preventing a ship from approaching within 2 miles (3.22 km) of shore.
"The safety of the residents of Unalska and the surrounding communities is our top priority, so as a precaution we are maintaining a one-mile (1.61 km) safety zone around the vessel," Salerno said.
The owners said that there was no oil theft related to the incident.
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A team of marine firefighting experts inspected the vessel on Friday evening and found no signs of structural deformation or swelling outside the cargo hold, the Coast Guard said.
The team is on board to assess the situation, Salerno said.
The experts, hired by Wisdom Marine Group based in Taipei, Taiwan, are "working diligently to develop emergency plans, organize a firefighting team and ensure the necessary equipment is available," he said.
The Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the fire.
According to the Marine Traffic website, the Genius Star Eleven left Vietnam on December 10 and went to a port in the Netherlands. With a deadweight of 13,000 tons (11,793 metric tons), the ship flew the flag of Panama.
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