by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

A fire erupted on board container vessel Marie Maersk on Wednesday, 13 August, according to a statement by liner Maersk.

The crew detected smoke emanating from containers on board the vessel while en route from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia.

The 18,270-TEU vessel is deployed on Maersk’s AE5 mainline service, connecting Asia with North Europe.

Maersk confirmed that all crew members are safe and remain on board, following firefighting procedures to control the situation.

According to media reports, the vessel was diverted towards the West African shore to secure landside support as quickly as possible.

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