HALIFAX—Poor weather conditions are still preventing crews from extinguishing a fire burning aboard a large Halifax-bound container ship about 1,775 kilometres southeast of the city, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday. The 320-metre container ship was travelling from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Halifax on Thursday when a fire started inside a container on the ship’s forward deck. There were no reported injuries to the eight officers and 15 seafarers aboard the ship, which was built in 2002 and is capable of carrying 7,510 standard 20-foot containers. “The weather and sea conditions are still difficult and further extinguishing work requires an improvement of these conditions,” he said. Seifert said the Smit Nicobar is equipped with fire monitors to assist with the fire extinguishing as soon as weather permits.

Source: thestar January 05, 2019 17:56 UTC