awful! The container ship exploded after burning for 5 days! The box was swallowed by the fire and 8 others fell into the sea. General average has been declared!

This container ship has been engulfed by fire and smoke...

On the afternoon of May 20th, local time, the container ship "X-PRESS PEARL" burst into flames in the Sri Lankan waters about 9.5 nautical miles from the port of Colombo, and the container on the deck caught fire.
By May 21, the fire on the ship was under control. However, after burning for 5 days, on the morning of May 25th, local time, the container of "X-PRESS PEARL" suddenly exploded and the fire was out of control again. Fortunately, all the 25 crew members were evacuated safely.
The current situation of the "X-PRESS PEARL" ship is critical. This new ship, which has just been delivered and put into operation for only three months, may have to face "abandonment."

It is reported that there were about 1,486 containers on board, and at least 8 containers fell into the water after the incident, which contained 25 tons of nitric acid, as well as several other chemicals and cosmetics.
Due to the leakage of chemical substances in the container, the fire on the scene became more and more violent. The ship has been engulfed by fire and smoke. According to a report from the Sri Lanka Navy, strong winds aggravated the fire, which is currently spreading towards the bridge.
As the ship is currently in a critical state, the Sri Lankan authorities are trying to move it 50 nautical miles away from the coastline to prevent damage to the environment; in addition, strong winds in the area have made it more difficult to control the spread of fire.

Currently, Sri Lankan Navy Sindurala naval vessels and fast assault boats are deployed at the rescue operation site to assist the ongoing firefighting work. The Sri Lankan side is ready for the worst-case scenario in which the ship may sink.
In addition, the Sri Lankan Air Force deployed the Bell-212 helicopter and spread more than 400 kilograms of dry powder on the ship; and sent a tugboat 03 SLPA to reduce the heat in the area around the container. Judging from the current situation, this ship may not be able to be kept.

Declared general average
WK Webster, a maritime claims consulting company, confirmed that the ship has declared general average, but the specific cargo damage is still unknown.
Based on previous experience, in some cases, a fire on a container ship can take several weeks to be completely extinguished, and rescue operations may become one of the most expensive parts of X-Press Pearl’s claims.
Some experts said that the total amount of claims caused by this accident may exceed 100 million U.S. dollars. The only good news is that the container ship that caught fire this time is a small feeder-type ship, and there are not many containers loaded.

It is understood that the "X-PRESS PEARL" ship has a capacity of 2700 TEU and the ship owner is X-Press Feeders. The ship was just delivered in February this year, and the cost was about 30 million U.S. dollars, but the insurance amount may be closer to its current market value of about 45 million U.S. dollars.
Container ship X-PRESS PEARL data information and possible co-cabin shipping companies:

Container fire accidents occur frequently. The P&I Club Gard clearly pointed out in a report in November 2020 that according to statistics, a fire involving container cargo occurs on average every two weeks.
Gard's report also outlines the three main causes of common container fires in history. The first is the spontaneous combustion of charcoal, and the second is the improperly packaged and undeclared chemicals. Ranked third is the fire caused by the battery.
Remember not to conceal or falsely report dangerous goods.