I have been involved in several coal fires aboard ship but never have I seen anything like this. So quickly occurring after loading and departure.
usually just hot spots from heat once the hatches were but down. in all my cases it was due to wet coal on the dock being loaded onboard or the hatches left open in the rain during loading.
is there anyone on the forum that is local that can say what the weather has been like in Baltimore over the last few days.
while some have tried to put out these hot spot fires using CO2 with the hatch covers closed. it has never been successful, just ruining the hatch cover as they went convex.
we always wound up unloading the coal putting the hots spots on shore and tapping down the rest of the cargo within the hatch with a bulldozer.
we would also install steel pipes vertically within the cargo and put temperature gauges down the pipes to monitor the temperature during transit
typically, it takes a while after the covers are down to build up enough heat for spontaneous combustion. could have been a hot spot that was on the pier and loaded into the vessel, depends on whether they used a crane or conveyor for loading.
you first indications are usually puffs of smoke emanating from the hatch cover at the seals one to two days later time enough to turn the vessel around and head back to port for partial unload.
in my experience i have never seen such a violent explosion so soon after vessel departure
can you image if it was a hatch aft by the house, it would have catastrophic
The channel is open now and the ship went to anchor off Annapolis. She has company out there, the anchorage is as crowded as I have ever seen it. The USCG was worried the hatch cover was a danger to ships, they either dredged it up or found it flat on the bottom.
my experiences were with Chinese’s ships coming into San Francisco or Hawaii
they didn’t bother with such diligent
i will speculate at this point due to the fact that they had just gotten underway that the coal was wet and had heat spots while on the pier. must have been dumped in off a conveyor belt in a hot condition
If for some reason I get put in charge of loading coal on ships, I think I will bring my FLIR camera with me. I usually use it for engine room stuff or hot wiring, but it should be able to find a coal fire.
The ship actually did not end up in Annapolis, as of a couple hours ago she is anchored in an unusual spot north of the Bay Bridge off Kent Island near Love Point. Maybe no one else wanted her to be anchored next to them!
I haven’t been closer than a mile, but there is no evident smoke. Also if the forward hold is still open it just got a crapload of rain to make the coal nice and wet.
Someone is still there to turn the lights on and off at night unless they got a timer from Home Depot.
I’m scratching my head on what can be done. She can’t sail damaged hatch & possibly more. No US yard will want to work on her loaded.. Bay ports aren’t well equipped to unload bulk cargo. Even if they could get Mississippi style floating cranes, and they are a few around the East Coast were would they put the coal. Fill whole lot of barges they would have to be emptied somewhere. Then reloaded when the ships repaired.
Baltimore is the second-largest exporting hub for coal in the United States, accounting for 28% of total coal exports in 2023, according to Census Bureau data. It is second only to Norfolk, Virgina, also known as Hampton Roads.
I ve been involved with 4 coals fires. NOT of this magnitude. SOP is to unload the holds using a clam shell from a derrick barge either on to the dock or into hopper barges.
it is probable that ship owners’ cargo interests and the loading terminal are all point fingers at each other on who’s going to pay for the discharge and where are you going to put the wet coal. she certainly can’t sail in her present condition and an evaluation of damage must be undertaken prior to any further decisions.
so it comes back to unloading that hold and perhaps the next on aft and the forward ballast void
Agree unloading the affected hold, one more aft, and examining the voids forward are minimum to inspect. If the hull is Ok, no chance of additional coal problems, and all that has to be done is install new or repaired hatch covers it’s probably doable . Fabricate ashore install afloat. Plenty of cranes in Norfolk that can handle it. Still have to get the coal out. Not going to get a burning permit from the Coast Guard unless the holds are empty and clean.
Kinder Morgan Norfolk floating cranes, to my eye, don’t have the reach required. They typically work much smaller bulkers. Even with adequate cranes still have to put the coal somewhere. Will a terminal operator allow it on their property ? If the vessel needs dry docking to repair the hull it’s another level of difficulty. You’re not going to dry dock her loaded.
Since I’ve never been to Norfolk and you have local knowledge.
A Liebherr Crane could be brought in by trucks and assembled on a pier somewhere in the area that could handle discharge from the hold to a shore side pier. they have super long booms and can easily handle the weight of the clam shell and load
I would dump the coal on the pier look for more hot spots, inspect the hull internals, make repairs to the datisfaction of class and the USCG and reload.
Meanwhile you can address the issue of the hatch cover. it may take weeks or months before the ship sails
chances are that the coal onboard was loaded at the same port there are probably other holds with hot spots
The basic Liebherr crane is about 600 Tonnes. It assembles itself with a power pack to drive each track into position where it is finally fitted to the crane. The counterweights were 25 tonnes each and a temporary jib lifted each in position as the main jib was assembled. The unit I was familiar with was previously used in Zaire before it was disassembled and shipped somewhere else.
There is possibly an engineering firm somewhere that is fabricating a new hatch lid.
