Details remain scant on the condition of the Sincerity Ace car carrier following a fatal fire onboard the vessel that led to its abandonment in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii at the beginning of January.
According to vessel owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the car carrier is now being towed to an as-yet-to-be determined location in the Far East by the salvage tug Koyo Maru. A spokesperson for the owner said the fire is thought to be extinguished, according to the Koyo Maru’s crew, with no more smoke or hot spots reported.
The condition of the 3,500 Nissan vehicles onboard the Sincerity Ace, which was being operated by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL),remains unknown, as does the cause of the fire.
As reported last week, the vessel was on route between Japan and Hawaii, 1,800 nautical miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, when a fire broke out onboard during the evening of December 31. The crew of 21 was unable to contain the fire and had to be rescued, though only 16 of that number made it to the ‘samaritan’ vessels that attended the scene.
