But for the alertness of the crew of M.V. Freedom Ace an early morning fire would have completely razed the 700 units on new vehicles that arrived at the Five Star Logistics Terminal at the Tin Can Island port last weekend.
The Panama- flagged ship; MV Freedom Ace which arrived at Five Star terminal on Friday was to have commenced discharge immediately, but our sourced hinted that discharge was delayed for some reasons.
But for the alertness of the crew of M.V. Freedom Ace an early morning fire would have completely razed the 700 units on new vehicles that arrived at the Five Star Logistics Terminal at the Tin Can Island port last weekend.
The Panama- flagged ship; MV Freedom Ace which arrived at Five Star terminal on Friday was to have commenced discharge immediately, but our sourced hinted that discharge was delayed for some reasons.
Although, officials of the terminal were evasive when our correspondent visited the terminal yesterday, some dockworkers who spoke on condition of anonymity disclosed that the inferno started when a one of the vehicles; a Toyota Camry caught fire.
Although, no one could say precisely how it started, there were two accounts. One version said that there was an explosion before the vehicle caught fire, yet another informed our correspondent that the accident was caused by an electrical fault in the cargo hold of the ship.
Shipping Position Daily also confirmed that the fire was actually put off by some brave dockworkers who after the initial fright on hearing the explosion, summoned courage and took hold of the ship’s fire extinguishers to quarantine the fire.
“The fire started at Hole 3, deck 10, but our colleagues who were on duty ran to the deck and took hold of the ship’s fire fighting equipment, if not for these, the fire would have escaped to other holds and you can imagine what would have happened”, the dockworker recalled.
A senior officer of the terminal operator who was contacted by our correspondent yesterday for confirmation, cleverly denied that there was a fire out break on board any ship at the terminal.
When the identity of the ill-fated ship was disclosed to him, he requested for more time to confirm from his superiors.
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