ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A big freight ship with a fire in its hold is being kept 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) offshore of an Alaska port as a safetymeasure while efforts are carriedout to snuffout the flames, the U.S. Coast Guard stated Saturday.
There were no injuries to the 19 team members aboard the Genius Star XI, which was bring a load of lithium-ion batteries throughout the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego, the guard’s Alaska district stated in a release.
The fire began on Christmas Day in freight hold No. 1, a representative for ship owner Wisdom Marine Group stated in a declaration. The team launched carbon dioxide into the hold and sealed it over issues of an surge.
Ship’s workers notified the Coast Guard early Thursday earlymorning about the fire. The Coast Guard stated it diverted the 410-foot (125-meter) freight ship to Dutch Harbor, one of the country’s busiest fishing ports situated in Unalaska, an Aleutian Islands neighborhood about 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.
The ship gothere Friday, however an order avoiding the Genius Star XI from going close to coast was provided to “mitigate dangers associated with burning lithium-ion batteries or hazardous gasses produced by the fire,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr.