M/V Courage Arrives In Southampton, 100 Charred Vehicles Expected
A transporter ship that caught fire off the coast of Essex has arrived in Southampton.
The American crew of the RoRo M/V Courage
are reported safe after fighting a blaze using the ship’s CO2 system
when a cargo fire broke out on board Tuesday night. The vessel spent
Wednesday afternoon anchored off the Isle of Wight before continuing to
Southampton, her previously scheduled destination.
100 damaged vehicles, out of a total
600, are expected to be found when Hampshire Fire and Rescue enters the
ship’s cargo hold. No pollution related issues are expected. The fire
department will wait until Friday to inspect the vessel’s cargo hold
because firefighters ” first must confirm there were no remaining
pockets of fire”.
A Hampshire Fire and Rescue
spokeswoman told the BBC: “The ship was monitored last night with no
obvious signs of fire and the compartment remaining cool. This situation
remains the same with no immediate danger or threat of fire. The next
steps are to asses the damage, confirm there are no remaining pockets of
fire and start the ventilation process to make the vessel safe for
other agencies and crews.”
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has issued a “prohibition notice” to stop the ship being moved until deemed safe.
The M/V Courage is a 52288 GRT Pure Car Truck Carrier (PCTC),
built-in 1991. PCTC is a class of RoRo characterized by a highly
optimized system of altering strength and liftable decks which join the
main cargo section. This system enables the vessel to be reconfigured
quickly to accommodate different cargoes and maximize lift capacity. Our
ramp systems are permanently attached thus making them truly
self-sustaining.
The ship is owned by American Roll-On Roll-Off Carriers
(ARC). The company provides Ro-Ro shipping services in the United
States and offers ocean services for the transport of automobiles,
trucks, military vehicles, helicopters, and break-bulk cargos and has a
space charter arrangement with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. The
company was founded in 1990 and is based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
American Roll-On Roll-Off Carriers LLC. is a subsidiary of American
Rollon Roll-off Carrier Holding LLC.
In October ARC signed a five- year contract with TOTE Services to provide ship management services. Tote services is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL.
ARC told the BBC that it does not know how much damage the ship or
the cargo had sustained but that it was carrying a mix of commercial and
US military vehicles, it added.