Fire Guts RoRo Vessel; Hoegh Xiamen, 21 Crew Safe

Fire erupted on board a Roll On Roll Off Vessel and car carrier HOEGH XIAMEN on Thursday, the ship is berthed at Jacksonville (Blount Island), Florida.

The ship had arrived on Jun 3 with cargo of cars to be offloaded at the port.

Officials believe the fire erupted on seventh cargo deck and spread to cargo deck or decks below. Fire is treated as major, with deployment of many fire engines and tugs with water cannons.

While battling a fire, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said an explosion occurred, injuring firefighters. Eight firefighters were injured in the explosion, and an additional firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.

However, the 21 crew onboard are safe. As of 0100 LT (UTC -4) Jun 5, firefighting is understood to continue, firefighters were expected to be on ship throughout the night, finding and extinguishing hotspots.