On the morning of Wednesday, August 13, a serious fire broke out on board AP Moller-Maersk’s ultra-large container ship Marie Maersk while sailing off the coast of Liberia. It was reported that the crew initially observed smoke from containers on deck while the vessel was en route from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia.

According to Maersk, the crew immediately initiated emergency procedures and began fighting the fire on board. The company confirmed that all crew members are safe and that the vessel remains in stable condition.

Over the weekend, firefighting efforts by the crew prevented the blaze from spreading further. To support their efforts, two tugs reached the ship later on Wednesday to provide firefighting assistance. In recent days, an additional tugboat and one offshore supply vessel, both equipped with firefighting gear, reached the ship.

“We expect firefighting efforts to intensify further once the external firefighters can board Marie Maersk and bring further relief to the vessel’s crew,” a Maersk spokesperson told WorldCargo News on 18 August.

“The vessel is still off the Liberian coast and will be diverted to a port of refuge, which is under contemplation, to secure landside support as quickly as possible. The expert Crisis Response Team of Maersk is in constant touch with the vessel’s crew to give them all possible support. Due to the prevailing conditions in the respective cargo bays, we still cannot confirm the exact impact of the fire on the cargo yet,” the spokesperson added.

When asked about the contents of the affected container, a Maersk spokesperson said: “It is too early to say; that is normally investigated once the fire has been extinguished.”

The Danish-flagged, 2013-built vessel operates on the Gemini Cooperation Asia–Europe AE4 service.  It is one of Maersk’s Triple-E class ships and has a capacity of 19,076 TEU.