2 dead after fire aboard container ship at Port Houston

Fire on M/V Stride occurred at the port’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal

A fire erupted Monday in the engine room of the M/V Stride, killing two crew members and injuring another. (Photo: Baytown Fire Department)

Two crew members died and a third was injured after a fire aboard a container ship at Port Houston.

The incident began around 3:30 a.m. Monday. The Port Houston Fire Department responded to a report of a fire on board the M/V Stride, which was docked at the port’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal, port officials said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The fire reportedly had erupted in the engine room of the vessel with three crew members unaccounted for, according to the Baytown Fire Department

“[Firefighters] arrived on scene and were directed to the vessel’s engine room to perform rescue operations. During the search, Baytown firefighters located the unaccounted crew members. Regrettably, two of them were found to be deceased, while the third was alive,” the Baytown Fire Department said.

The injured crew member was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. No other injuries were reported. 

The fire was extinguished around 4:30 a.m. The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board said they are investigating the incident. The ship is still currently at Port Houston.

The M/V Stride is a 27-year-old container ship sailing under the flag of Panama. The vessel is owned by the Athens, Greece-based Danaos Corp., and has a capacity of 2,174 twenty-foot equivalent units.

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact nmahoney@freightwaves.com