Two Container Explosions And Ningbo Delays

Incredibly, two explosions aboard container ships have occurred during the past week while the vessels were docked at port terminals in Asia.

The most significant was in China's Ningbo Zhoushan port last week, where a container of dangerous goods exploded aboard the vessel Yang Ming Mobility, sending plumes of fire and smoke into the air.

Emergency response teams mobilised to fight the subsequent fire and thankfully, there were no casualties reported during the incident. Unfortunately, the terminal has been closed ever since, leading to delays being incurred at the port.

The container in question is understood to have contained class 5.2 organic peroxide, a highly combustible reactive chemical that causes heat to rise as outside temperature increase.

Schedules for vessels have already being adjusted for the port, which is a major stop on Asia routes, and could lead to longer term delays and ongoing port congestion.

In another incident at the port of Colombo this week, a fire broke out on the MSC Capetown. The blaze is understood to have started below deck and escalated to an explosion, before fast acting firefighters prevented what could have been a catastrophic event.

On this occasion, there appear to have been no dangerous goods involved.

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The Ningbo explosion has been captured on the video below.

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