Posted on 12/31/2023 2:46:09 PM PST by Libloather
A large cargo ship carrying lithium batteries which caught on fire has reached Alaska but continues to be held two miles offshore while responders attempt to extinguish the blaze.
The 19-strong crew managed to make it to shore with no injuries reported, according to the US Coast Guard.
The Genius Star XI was carrying a load of lithium-ion batteries across the Pacific Ocean, from Vietnam to San Diego when the cargo caught on fire, the guard's Alaska district said in a release.
The fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1, a spokesperson for ship owner Wisdom Marine Group said.
The crew worked quickly to release carbon dioxide into the hold and sealed it over to avoid a potential explosion.
They then alerted the the Coast Guard early Thursday morning who diverted the 125-meter cargo ship to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports located in Unalaska, an Aleutian Islands community about 1,287 kilometers southwest of Anchorage.
The ship arrived on Friday but was ordered to remain away from the shore to 'mitigate risks associated with burning lithium-ion batteries or toxic gasses produced by the fire,' Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mike Salerno told The Associated Press.
'The city's primary concern is protecting the health and safety of our community members, the environment, fisheries and commerce,' Unalaska acting city manager Marjie Veeder said in a statement.
Veeder said the city's emergency operations center 'is acting on behalf of the community and advocating our position to protect our community.
'We are actively monitoring the situation' he added.
'The safety of Unalaska residents and the surrounding communities is a top priority for us, so as a precaution we are keeping a one-mile (1.61-kilometer) safety zone around the vessel,' Salerno said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
More like “EV molten puddle of aluminum sale.”
How do you safely ship batteries in bulk like this when you still don’t understand how to prevent spontaneous combustion?
When can Biden be declared the national fossil, put on display at the Smithsonian, and stopped from causing further trouble?
But you don’t have to be meticulous about what temperature your gas tank is before you can fill it, and if it gets dented it doesn’t initiate a thermal runaway. It’s also much easier to put out a gasoline fire, should it occur, versus lithium fires which cannot be put out.
“One more cargo ship is heading to the scrapyard.”
They said they released carbon dioxide into the hold. That’s useless against a LI battery fire.
Wonder how tightly the batteries are packed together.
Take the ship out to the middle of the ocean and scuttle it.
Let it sink to the bottom
The reason you can put out a gasoline fire is because you can deprive it of oxygen, by spraying foam or carbon dioxide on it.
A batter contains its own oxidizer, as a matter of definition, more or less. So it's going to burn, even if you bury it under sand.
Hey, it ain’t easy be-in green...
This is your liberal policy for 80k cars, literally on fire. Total NIMBY
I was a Mary Ann guy, rather than Ginger.
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