Engine room fire breaks out on MOL vessel

Engine room fire breaks out on MOL vessel    A fire broke out Monday morning in the engine room of the MOL operated containership “MOL Initiative.” The cause is unknown and under investigation.
   The fire was discovered at about 5:23 a.m. Japanese time with the ship about 45 kilometers south of Nemuro, Hokkaido. The vessel, deployed on the New World Alliance’s weekly Asia/U.S. East Coast/U.S. West Coast APX service, was on voyage from Oakland to Tokyo.
   MOL said the fire was brought under control by pumping CO2 into the engine room, keeping lull until this morning at 11:30 a.m., when the engine room’s external wall temperature increased and smoke reached the crew quarters. The First Regional Japan Coast Guard then evacuated the 26 crewmembers, with no reported injuries, by helicopter. No oil spill or leakage has been reported.
   The incident is the second of its kind aboard a containership in two weeks, after a blazing fire erupted on the “Hyundai Fortune” in the Gulf of Aden, which is still being stabilized by salvage crews.