Fire Delays CMA CGM Rossini in Colombo

Hamburg hafen-HHM/Dietmar Hasenpusch The 5,770 TEU containership CMA CGM Rossini is wrapping up operations at the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and will be on its way in a few days after a fire in one of its holds kept the vessel at berth since June 15. Namely, a fire broke out in the hold number 5 on board the vessel while it was berthing in Colombo. According to the vessels operator, the French shipping company CMA CGM, the fire was extinguished successfully after efficient intervention of crew members and firemen. There were no injuries reported in the incident and the company said that the fire did not spread to other containers in the hold. Additionally, experts boarded the 2004-built vessel for inspection and observed no pollution either in the atmosphere or in the port water. Hapag-Lloyd AG earlier said that the fire experts and local authorities were in the process of assessing the extent of damages. All containers in hold number 5 were scheduled to be discharged in Colombo once all water has been pumped out of the hold, Hapag-Lloyd said, adding that the discharge is not expected to occur before the weekend due to limited berth availability and required approvals from local authorities. The 73,235 dwt vessel operates in the Europe Australia Express (EAX) service. World Maritime News Staff