NTSB Report: Failure to properly disconnect, secure car batteries led to 2020 ship fire that injured 9 Florida firefighters

  • Source: First Coast News
  • Published: 12/17/2021 12:00 AM

A National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday says a failure to properly disconnect and secure vehicle batteries led to the 2020 fire aboard vehicle carrier Höegh Xiamen in Blount Island. The June 4th fire resulted in $40 million worth of damages and sent nine Jacksonville firefighters to the hospital. No one died in the explosion but some fighters were severely injured. None of the vessel’s 21 crew members were injured during the incident. It took firefighters more than a week to officially put the subsequent fire out. The NTSB issued eight safety recommendations to federal regulators and the companies involved in the accident as a result of the investigation. According to the report, the explosion happened because of a spark from a car battery on the ship. Additionally, the car batteries had not been disconnected and secured before the cargo ship left the dock.



Comments

We welcome comments from registered users. Comments are solely the responsibility of those who post them; their viewpoints are not endorsed by the Daily Dispatch and DailyDispatch.com. (read more)
Highlight
ship name
no comments have been added


FREE QUICK SUBSCRIBE
Sign up to subscribe to custom state Daily Dispatch emails for free

click to subscribe