Posted on December 18, 2015
The dredger Hang Bo 3001 caught fire on the berth at Haifa Port in Israel. The fire started on the main deck due to wielding works during repairs, which inflamed and extended to the whole vessel. The crew succeeded to abandon the dredger Hang Bo 3001 and safely evacuated to the shore. The firefighting tugs and shore teams cooperated and succeeded to extinguish the fire for about 3 hours. The burning dredger put in danger all the vessels in the port and authorities were ready to tow her in open waters, but fast job of firefighters made such operation unnecessary. Fortunately during the accident there were no injured people and no water pollution. The local authorities started investigation for the root cause of the fire.
“The crew of Chinese nationals were able to escape to the shore unharmed. The blaze, which traveled along the rubber insulation of the ship, threatened to engulf the vessel, and authorities prepared to deploy a tow ship to pull the burning vessel away from the harbor, but good work of the firefighters protected them”, said local authorities in official statement.
The dredger Hang Bo 3001 (IMO: 9644926) has overall length of 97.00 m, moulded beam of 18.00 m and maximum draft of 4.10 m. The ship has deadweight of 3363 DWt and gross tonnage of 3556 GRT. The dredger was built in 2013 and operating under the flag of China. The vessel is engaged with dredging works at Haifa Port and working there since several months.
