Burst! Another freighter explosion!
Something happened again! According to foreign media reports, the British-flagged bulk carrier "Anglo Marie Louise" recently exploded off the coast of the United States.
Maritime claims consultancy WK Webster said it received reports on Wednesday that Anglo International Shipping's 115,000 DWT mini Capesite Anglo Marie Louise, built in 2011, suffered a cargo hold explosion near the US east coast city of Norfolk.
The ship, which is technically managed by the German ship management company Anglo-Eastern, was moored outside the port on Friday morning.
WK Webster said reports indicated the ship was 150 nautical miles (278 km) east of the coast at the time of the incident.
The explosion occurred in the ship's cargo hold, causing damage to the No. 1 and No. 2 cargo hatch
Fortunately, no crew members were injured and the ship remained seaworthy despite the damage. After the explosion, the Anglo Marie Louise kept going and anchored near Virginia Beach, near the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.
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AIS showed that as of 19:21 on December 1, the ship was still "at anchor."
At the time of the explosion, the Anglo Marie Louise had left Baltimore, Maryland, on November 23 and was en route to her next port, Hampton Harbor. Despite the incident, the ship returned to port under its own power.
The consultancy said there could be general average and recovery issues.
This is not the first time the Anglo Marie Louise has run into trouble. As early as March 2024, the ship experienced a power failure while sailing down the Mississippi River near New Orleans. That caused the ship to lose control, but two tugboats managed to turn it around and avoid a collision with the docked vessel.
The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the incident.
Multiple cargo ship explosions
Cargo ship explosions are not uncommon, there have been several in the second half of this year alone, such as:
On July 19, 2024, Maersk Frankfurt, a 5,500 TEU container ship owned by Maersk, exploded and subsequently burst into flames.
On August 9, 2024, a container ship exploded at the container terminal in the Beilun Port area of Zhoushan Port, Ningbo.
On August 11, 2024, MSC CAPETOWN III, a container ship owned by MSC, was docked at the JCT terminal in Colombo Port when an explosion and subsequent fire broke out below deck of the cargo ship.
On October 13, 2024, an explosion and fire broke out between two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers during a ship-to-ship cargo transfer off Chittagong in Bangladeshi waters.
On 28 November 2024, the Swedish general cargo ship SOFIA and another container ship, JML ABADI, exploded on their starboard main deck on the same day.
These incidents further highlight the urgency of strengthening port safety management and supervision of the transport of dangerous goods.
In this warm reminder to all relevant parties, it is necessary to strengthen the management of flammable and explosive dangerous goods, strengthen safety awareness and on-board operation norms, to ensure transport safety.
