Fire on 20,000-Ton Container Ship Carrying Charcoal Fully Extinguished After 12 Hours

No casualties among 17 crew members
Incident occurred south of Gwanmaedo

At 7:49 a.m. on the 28th of last month, a fire broke out on a container ship (20,738 tons, 17 crew members) sailing 10 nautical miles (18.52 km) south of Gwanmaedo, Sinan County. Photo by Yeosu Coast Guard

A major disaster was averted thanks to the swift response of the Coast Guard after a fire broke out on a 20,000-ton class container ship off the coast of South Jeolla Province.

According to the Yeosu Coast Guard on March 1, a fire occurred at 7:49 a.m. the previous day on container ship A (20,738 tons, 17 crew members, Panama-flagged) while it was passing through waters 18.5 kilometers (10 nautical miles) south of Gwanmaedo, Sinan County, South Jeolla Province.

An investigation revealed that the fire started naturally inside one of the containers loaded on vessel A, which was storing charcoal. At the time, the crew member on duty noticed smoke rising, immediately began firefighting efforts on board, and simultaneously made an emergency report to the Coast Guard.

Upon receiving the report, the Yeosu Coast Guard promptly dispatched patrol vessels from nearby waters off Geomundo and safely towed vessel A to the Gwangyang Port container terminal.

After the ship was safely docked, the Coast Guard, together with the fire authorities, extinguished the fire in the affected container. The container was then moved to a safe area on land and opened, where the remaining embers were put out. The fire was completely extinguished at around 8 p.m. the same day.

At the time of the incident, vessel A was carrying a total of 9,100 tons of cargo. Thanks to the quick response, the fire did not spread further, and there were no casualties or marine pollution.

A Yeosu Coast Guard official stated, "This could have led to a major accident, but thanks to the crew member's prompt report and rapid escort, further damage was prevented," adding, "We will continue to maintain a thorough response posture to marine accidents occurring in our jurisdictional waters."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.