OCEAN Network Express’ containership One Henry Hudson (IMO: 9302176) has experienced an electrical fire that started below deck after the vessel was moored at the port of Los Angeles, California.

The fire broke out on November 21 at around 1838 hrs local time according to a Seasearcher casualty report.

An explosion later occurred near the mid-deck at 2000 hrs. This caused a complete loss of power, halting lighting and crane operations.

Two crew members remained on board to assist in the evacuation. But firefighters restricted entry to the lower deck, where the fire started.

Firefighting vessels applied water streams to burning containers on deck. Around 100 containers may have been affected by the fire on the 8,212 teu vessel.

A total of 200 firefighters were deployed over the course of the operation to put out the fire at Usen Container Terminal.

The US Coast Guard released a statement on November 23 saying that “As of 1:30 p.m., Saturday [November 22], the fire was isolated to a single cargo hold with a fire boat on scene from the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.”

The coast guard established a safety zone of 0.5 nautical miles around the ship and staged additional search and rescue resources nearby. It continues to assist in stability and hazardous material assessments of the vessel. 

“The successful isolation of this vessel fire shows a strong partnership between the port of Los Angeles and our local partners,” said Capt Daniel Cobos, Port of LA Police Department incident commander. “Our coordinated response ensured operations continued uninterrupted at one of the largest ports in the country.”

Fire suppression operations are expected to continue while salvage teams continue their work under the coordination of all agencies in Unified Command.

Ports on the US’ west coast have been no stranger to incidents this year. In September, the port of Long Beach, also in California, had an incident involving dozens of containers falling off a berthed vessel.