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No injuries reported in container ship fire at Port of Los Angeles

ONE Henry Hudson had arrived from Tokyo

Stuart Chirls
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(Screenshot from ABC7 News)
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Key Takeaways:

  • An electrical fire on the ONE container ship Henry Hudson at the Port of Los Angeles caused no injuries to its 23-person crew, who were safely evacuated, but led to a temporary shelter-in-place advisory.
  • The incident resulted in the shutdown of four of the port's seven container terminals and the establishment of a mile-wide safety zone around the vessel.
  • An explosion cut power to the ship, and over 120 firefighters and various agencies responded, pouring water on the blaze and avoiding entry to the lower decks due to hazardous conditions.
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Container ship ONE Henry Hudson has been towed out to anchorage, the Port of Los Angeles said in a statement Saturday, after a fire that began onboard Friday was “substantially contained”.

Fire crews and ship crew members are continuing to fight the blaze as work restrictions at other port terminals were lifted. Port operations resumed Saturday morning. 

No injuries were reported after an electrical broke out at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time Friday aboard the 8,200-TEU ship that had arrived from Tokyo and was berthed at Yusen Container Terminal. The crew of 23 were safely evacuated. Two crew remained aboard to assist firefighters.

The Los Angeles Fire Department, Long Beach Fire Department, Los Angeles Port Police, and U.S. Coast Guard were on the scene, the port said in a statement.

The ship operates on the Premier Alliance FP1 Pacific service of ONE, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming. It was built in 2008 and is registered in Panama.

Smoke and hazardous materials led to an initial shelter-in-place advisory for the surrounding area that was lifted early Saturday, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; an explosion around 8 p.m. had cut power to the ship. Fireboats poured water on the blaze, and the more than 120 firefighters, police and customs officers deployed to the incident were instructed not to enter the lower decks.

The Coast Guard established a mile-wide safety zone around the ship, and four of the port’s seven container terminals suspended operations. Reports said the Vincent Thomas Bridge was also closed.

Ocean Network Express in an email to FreightWaves confirmed that all crew have been safely accounted for, adding, “ONE is deeply concerned by this incident and is closely monitoring the situation. We thank first responders onsite and remain fully committed to supporting incident management and subsequent investigations.”

This article was updated Nov. 22 to add that the fire had been contained and the ship towed to anchorage.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.