Foreign firefighting tugs rush in to save vessel carrying chemical cargo

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The owners of the ill-fated container ship on fire, MV X-Press Pearl, have sought the services of ‘Smit Salvors’, which helped disentagle a giant container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal recently.

Firefighting tugs, ‘Posh Teal’ and ‘Salwar’ arrived in Sri Lankan waters on Friday night and Saturday (23). Well informed sources said that foreign assistance had been enlisted as Sri Lanka lacked capacity to fight the fire.

The stricken vessel operated by the world’s largest feeder operator-X-Press Feeders is anchored nine nautical miles north west of the Colombo harbour. It is carrying chemicals.

X-Press Feeders took delivery of the 2,700 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vessel in February. Authoritative sources said that Sri Lanka lacked fully equipped platforms to fight a fire of that magnitude therefore foreign expertise was promptly sought. World renowned Smit Salvors refloated the 20,000 TEU container vessel Ever Given wedged in the Suez Canal, blocking the vital shipping route both ways.

The vessel registered under the Singaporean flag carrying 1,486 containers, with 25 tonnes of nitric acid, several other chemicals and cosmetics was in anchorage when a fire erupted in a container stacked on its deck.

The vessel that left port of Hazira, India, on 15 May was on her way to Singapore via Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) deployed two chartered tugs ‘Hercules’ and ‘Posh Hardy’ in addition to ‘Mahawewa’-all three owned by Sri Lanka Shipping Company Limited before the arrival of foreign vessels. Sources said SLPA owned ‘Megha’ a dedicated firefighting vessel couldn’t spearhead the effort as it was not properly equipped to undertake the task. Until the arrival of the foreign tugs, three local tugs were employed to reduce the heat in surrounding containers as the fire continued.

Both Sri Lanka Navy and the Coast Guard too lack proper firefighting capacity.

The Navy headquarters said SLNS Sindurala and a Fast Attack Craft were deployed at the scene of action to assist the ongoing firefighting efforts. The Navy also made a Navy Tug ready for immediate deployment in the event of any emergency.

Well informed sources said that the latest incident in Sri Lankan waters was a reminder that the country required sufficient firefighting capacity to face emerging challenges. Combating a fire on a ship was a high risk task that should be handled by experts. Sources pointed out battling a fire on a container carrier carrying chemical was especially a daunting challenge.

Responding to The Island queries, sources said that the SLAF in spite of inclement weather had dropped 425 kgs of dry chemical powder on the vessel on May 21 as part of the overall efforts to contain the fire. Perhaps, the government would examine the shortcomings in this sector at least now, sources said, adding that the country needed to acquire and sustain firefighting capability as efforts were made to attract more shipping.