Video: Cargo Ship Catches Fire at Port in Croatia

[Brief]  Firefighters were summoned to the port of Plo?e in southern Croatia on October 19 to assist in fighting a fire burning aboard a cargo ship docked in the port. Five fire engines along with two tugboats responded around 8:30 p.m. local time.

The 8,100 dwt Mehmet Unlu, registered in Turkey, was alongside working a load of scrap metal when smoke started pouring out of the number three hold of the vessel. Reports indicate that the vessel was evacuated. The fire aboard the 380-foot long vessel was contained to the hold with no injuries to the crew.

Fire crews reportedly poured more than 800 liters of form on the fire from two vehicles but it was not enough to entirely extinguish the fire. The decision was made to partially unload the vessel to reach the fire. Fire crews also used an infrared camera to measure the temperature of the ship’s hull.

The fire was declared out after midnight on October 20. Investigators are looking for the source of the fire but they speculated that a spark during the cargo handling operation might have ignited oil or fuel that was on the scrap metal.

The vessel had arrived earlier in the week at the port from Ravenna, Italy, and normally operates between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.