In the umpteenth hazardous cargo incident so far this year, another onboard fire caused a box ship to sink off the northern coast of Eritrea in the Red Sea, about 300 kilometres south of Port Sudan.
The TSS Pearl had all its crew evacuated about a week ago after black smoke started billowing from its stern-side cargo.
In one of the last images taken of the 2 007-TEU box ship before it went under, a huge plume of smoke can be seen trailing off underneath blazing cargo.
Interestingly, all attempts at navigational tracking of the vessel failed before it sank.
Professional salvors had been instructed to provide services after the ship’s crew abandoned it approximately 123 nautical miles northwest of Jizan port in Saudi Arabia.
In the meantime it has been reported that several containers can be seen floating in the Red Sea.
The ship’s 25 crew members were evacuated after the fire broke out in a container stack just forward of the accommodation block. Saudi Arabia’s Border Guard took the crew to Jizan. No injuries were reported.
Details regarding the incident remain sparse, but there is speculation that the Pearl was probably located in a deep part of the Red Sea, rendering the incident a total loss.
Apparently none of its superstructure is visible.
It is also unclear whether the fire had been put out after the vessel was abandoned and whether salvage teams managed to arrive before it sank.
WK Webster cargo insurers noted that a fire expert had been instructed to investigate the cause of the fire and had begun work before the vessel sank.
The fire broke out on October 5 while the vessel was travelling from Jeddah to Aden.
The 14-year-old Chinese-built Pearl was registered in Panama, owned by Rafidain Shipping, and operated by UAE-based Tehama Shipping. The 626-foot vessel had a capacity of 1 850 TEUs and was 27 155 dwt.
Japan’s NYK Line reported that its car carrier, Orion Leader, had been sailing in the Red Sea from Laem Chabang, Thailand, to Jeddah when she received a distress call about a containership on fire. The car carrier rescued eight sailors by launching its lifeboat at around 12:30 am on October 6.
