A fire broke out on a container ship docked at Colombo which then led to an explosion near the accommodation block of the 18-year-old vessel.
At the time of the fire, the ship was unloading 995 boxes and loading 880 boxes. The ship, built in 2006, had set sail from Singapore and arrived in Colombo early on August 11th 2024. The fire initiated in the vicinity of 100 under-deck containers and 60 on-deck containers. The fire then later escalated to an explosion below deck. At this time, the above-deck containers had been disembarked. One container consisting of 'dangerous cargo' had already been disembarked alongside the above-deck containers.
Firefighters and other port services extinguished the fire and safely removed any affected cargo.
SLPA’s Director of Port Operations, Mr. H.J.K.U. Kumara stated that "the vessel berthed at our terminal showed no prior signs of fire".
"However, during operations, our team identified the precise location from which the smoke was originating, leading to an explosion".
Investigations are ongoing into the cause of fire and status of cargo.
