by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

An explosion occurred on container ship MSC Capetown III on 11 August while it was berthed at Jaya Container Terminal berth IV in the Port of Colombo.

Due to the explosion, a fire erupted onboard, prompting the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) to respond immediately. The authorities safely evacuated all operations staff and crew members from the vessel.

Reports highlighted that 60 containers above deck in the affected area had already been unloaded, including one containing dangerous cargo.

SLPA Chairman Keith Bernard announced that a comprehensive investigation would be launched to determine why the explosion occurred.

The boxship MSC Capetown III is a Portuguese-flagged ship built in 2006 and currently deployed on MSC's Dar Es Salaam Express service.

This incident marked the second explosion and fire onboard a container ship within three days.

On 9 August, a container exploded onboard the Yang Ming vessel YM Mobility while berthed at the Chinese Port of Ningbo.