Yantian Express: Crew members evacuated from burning container ship

Yantian Express: Crew members evacuated from burning container ship
PHOTO CREDIT: Klaus Fruhauf

Hapag Lloyd on Sunday said it had evacuated the crew of the Yantian Express, off Canada’s east coast after a fire spread.

The 320-meter German-flagged container ship was travelling from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Halifax, on Thursday, when a fire started inside a container on the ship’s forward deck.

“Due to bad weather conditions, the fire has not been successfully contained yet and has significantly increased in intensity at times.

“For this reason, a decision was made to evacuate the crew. The complete crew is unharmed,” the German shipping line said in a statement on Sunday.

Hapag Lloyd had said on Friday that it was trying to extinguish the fire.