Maritime “powers that be” need to introduce more stringent controls and regulations on cargo sea transport, not only for rolling units but also for containers.
This appeal was made by the Italian Grimaldi Group following the outbreak of a fire onboard one of its car carriers last week.
The fire on board the roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) carrier Grande Europa started on May 15 approximately 25 miles from Palma de Mallorca.
The Grimaldi Group said in a statement that the vessel had been loaded with 1 687 mostly new vehicles, and 49 containers containing mainly food products.
The fire is the second one to break out on a Grimaldi Lines vessel, with its Grande America stricken in March this year.
“Following the umpteenth case of a fire that broke out on vehicles transported by cargo vessels, the Grimaldi Group requests that there be more controls on car batteries, which often cause short-circuits on board vessels, as well as in port terminals,” read the statement. It called for the “total prohibition” of personal effects in second-hand vehicles carried on ro-ro vessels.
