Sad to say, there were fatalities. Source: 3 feared dead as salvage mission launched for disabled car carrier in Pacific Nissan confirms 3,500 vehicles are on board troubled ship Merchant vessels responding to distress calls have rescued 16 crew members from a large car carrier adrift in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,800 miles northwest of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, following a fire, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Sincerity Ace, a Panamanian-flagged roll-on/roll-off vessel with a capacity of 5,200 vehicles, was headed to Hawaii and U.S. mainland ports with Nissans, and possibly other vehicles. Bob Wilson
Only a decade old ship. That's some pretty lousy training/maintenance that would cause a fire big enough to kill crew members. .
Merchant ships are registered in countries like Panama and Liberia due to their lax regulations on safety and training. Very few merchant ships are registered in the US on account of added safety, certification and training needed for the crew. The majority of the crew on the ships are from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and other third world countries. If they arrived on a US registered ship as a foreign national crewman, they are always "detained on board" and not allowed shore leave. I believe that the MV "Sincerity Ace" is a Japanese built "drive on-drive off" automotive transport ship. Vessel details for: SERENITY ACE (Vehicles Carrier) - IMO 9391579, MMSI 311002800, Call Sign C6WY5 Registered in Bahamas | AIS Marine Traffic Our retired friend remembers inspecting the MV "Glorious Ace" in Baltimore during the 1990's with a load of Honda Civics.
Leaves burn good and hot Cryogenic CO2 (or is it nitrogen?) fire suppression might not be enough to put out a deck load of lithium battery based autos whether that's how it started or not. Massive midships burn from the looks of it. One of Toyota's regulars New Century 1 is helping with the rescue. Actually I think the Leaf are made in Tn. Wonder where the batteries come from? Haven't logged in in for ever. Good to see "the older guys" still at it. May you live long and prosper
In this time of sea level rise, the crews from Bangladesh especially, are looking for sailing jobs on ships that float better than their Bangladeshi bottomlands. The Sincerity Ace may not continue towards that auspicious claim. It's too bad that Nissan had so many cars that may not be delivered for sales. It does appear that Nissan is slumping & other brand cars are by-passing them.
