No injuries were reported as a fire aboard a ONE container ship shut down four terminals at the Port of Los Angeles late Friday.
Local reports said an electrical fire broke out below decks aboard the Ocean Network Express Henry Hudson berthed at Yusen Container Terminal at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time Friday. No injuries were reported among the crew of 23, who were safely evacuated. Two crew remained aboard to assist firefighters.
The Los Angeles Fire Department, Long Beach Fire Department, Los Angeles Port Police, and U.S. Coast Guard were on the scene, the port said in a statement.
The 8,200-TEU ship operates on the Premier Alliance FP1 Pacific service of ONE, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming. It was built in 2008 and is registered in Panama.
Smoke and hazardous materials led to an initial shelter-in-place advisory for the surrounding area that was lifted early Saturday, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; an explosion around 8 p.m. had cut power to the ship. Fireboats poured water on the blaze, and the more than 120 firefighters, police and customs officers deployed to the incident were instructed not to enter the lower decks.
The U.S. Coast Guard established a mile-wide safety zone around the ship, and four of the port’s seven container terminals suspended operations. Reports said the Vincent Thomas Bridge was also closed.
Ocean Network Express in an email to FreightWaves confirmed that all crew have been safely accounted for, adding, “ONE is deeply concerned by this incident and is closely monitoring the situation. We thank first responders onsite and remain fully committed to supporting incident management and subsequent investigations.”
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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