Fire Breaks Out on Fore Section of MOL Comfort

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday July 8, 2013

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has reported that early Saturday July 6 fire broke out from the rear end of the fore section of containership MOL Comfort while it was being towed by a salvage company.

In incident updates on Saturday, Sunday, and today, MOL said it immediately requested the salvage company to start fire fighting, and the tug boat towing the vessel section and two other rescue boats were responding to the fire.

As of Sunday the fire was not under control, which it said was due to continued adverse weather.

The salvage company was reported by MOL to have requested fire fighting assistance from the Indian Coast Guard, and their patrol boat "Samudra Prahari," which was said to be equipped with a powerful external fire fighting system, arrived at the scene early on Monday morning.

India TV News reported that the fire was first spotted by the Indian Coast Guard's Dornier aircraft at 11 am on Saturday.

On June 17 MOL Comfort broke in two during adverse weather and prior to the fire, the fore part of the vessel was being towed toward the Arabian Gulf.

The aft section sank on June 27 with about 1,500 metric tonnes of fuel oil onboard.