Yet another cargo ship caught on fire this month, resulting in the terrible loss of two New Jersey firefighters.
The Grimaldi ro-ro vessel ‘Grande Costa d’Avorio’, caught fire on the evening of July 5th in the Port of Newark container terminal. Firefighters managed to extinguish the main body of the blaze but the flames had extended to multiple levels.
Within an hour, the two firefighters had become trapped inside the ship, and although they were found and pulled out, they later died in hospital.
The fire took six days to extinguish completely and both the vessel and the cargo are now due to be scrapped.
The freighter was loaded with cars and was about to start its journey to Africa, although it was due another stop at Providence, Rhode Island, before leaving the United States. The cause of the fire is currently unknown but an investigation has now started.
Fires on cargo ships are happening too frequently these days, with many being attributed to dangerous goods cargo aboard.
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