News for the seafarers
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Shipowner Grimaldi says a port vehicle used to push non-operating automobiles sparked the deadly fire at a New Jersey pier.
The post Newark car carrier fire blamed on Ports America-owned Jeep Wrangler appeared first on FreightWaves.
The deadly blaze aboard the car carrier Grande Costa D’Avorio in Port Newark, New Jersey, in July was caused by a Ports America-owned Jeep Wrangler being used to load non-working vehicles, shipowner Grimaldi Deep Sea claimed in a legal filing on Wednesday.
The fire broke out during loading operations on July 5 and was extinguished on July 11. Two Newark firefighters, Augusto Acabou and Wayne Brooks Jr., died during the initial firefighting operations.
The ship was loaded with more than 1,200 vehicles as well as 157 containers and was destined for West Africa when the fire broke out.
Port Newark is leased and operated by Ports America. The Grand Costa D’Avorio was at a berth operated by stevedore American Marine Services (AMS), Grimaldi said in Wednesday’s court filing. “AMS was loading used vehicle cargoes aboard the vessel … and used a 2007 Jeep Wrangler to push non-running vehicles aboard.”
According to Grimaldi, Ports America owned the Jeep Wrangler “and was responsible for its maintenance, repair and safe operational condition.” It said that “AMS, through its employees, operated the Jeep Wrangler and had certain maintenance and repair responsibilities for its safe operations.”
The shipowner said that “a fire started from the underside of the Jeep Wrangler while it was being driven by an AMS employee and pushing a non-running Toyota Venza from the terminal to Deck 10 on the vessel.
“The fire quickly enveloped the Jeep Wrangler and generated thick black smoke and intense heat. The AMS drivers and lashers immediately left the vessel.” (A lasher is a stevedore that secures and unlashes cargo.)
According to Grimaldi, the ship’s crew members attempted to extinguish the fire but it quickly spread and intensified. Local firefighters arrived to fight the blaze. Acabou and Brooks were reported missing and “the priority of operations … changed from firefighting to search and rescue.”
After the two missing firefighters were recovered, Newark firefighters left the ship, Grimaldi said. The ship’s crew continued their own efforts until the morning of July 6. By that time, the fire had spread to other decks and the captain ordered the crew to leave the vessel.
Grimaldi’s account of the fire’s cause was included in a limitation of liability filing. Under the Limitation of Liability Act, a shipowner may limit its liability to the value of the vessel and its pending freight income, with that value determined immediately following the accident.
Grimaldi blamed the casualty on the Jeep Wrangler, maintaining that the injuries, deaths and property loss were not caused by any negligence on its part. (FreightWaves has sought comment from Ports America on the statements made by Grimaldi in its court filing but has yet to receive a reply.)
Nonetheless, Grimaldi “believes civil actions and claims will be asserted against it in an amount exceeding the total amount for which Grimaldi may be legally responsible for pursuant to the Limitation [of Liability] Act.”
The shipowner said that legal discovery actions have been commenced by Ports America, AMS, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the estates of the two deceased firefighters.
A formal claim has already been made by the estates of Acabou and Brooks and Grimaldi has posted a tort lien security of $20 million in the form of a letter of undertaking.
In Wednesday’s court filing, Grimaldi asked for that amount to be replaced by supplemental security of $19,837,440 for death and injury claims, calculated based upon a formula in the Limitation of Liability Act ($420 per ton multiplied by the ship’s gross registered tonnage of 47,232).
Grimaldi calculated that the value of the vessel and pending freight is $15.9 million and is seeking court approval of that assessment.
Grimaldi said the vessel was valued at $55 million prior to the accident. It estimated the cost of repairs at $26 million, the cost for towage to a repair yard in the Mediterranean region at $3 million and its share of salvage cost at $11 million, bringing the present value of the ship down to $15 million. It estimated the income from freight for undamaged vehicles to be $900,000, bringing Grimaldi’s assessment of the liability cap to $15.9 million.
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New Jersey container imports are unscathed “so far” but the port’s automobile trade faces fallout from the ongoing fire.
The post Car carrier blaze in New Jersey port will burn ‘for a couple more days’ appeared first on FreightWaves.
The car carrier Grande Costa d’Avorio continued to burn on Friday alongside the pier in Newark, New Jersey. As firefighters doused the top decks with water, gas tanks of automobiles parked inside continued to periodically explode.
“The projected timeline at this point is that the fire is going to burn for a couple more days,” said Thomas Wiker, president of Gallagher Marine Systems, during a press conference Friday morning. Gallagher Marine represents shipowner Grimaldi Deepsea on the response team.
“It’s impossible to give any kind of definitive timeline,” Wiker said.
The ongoing conflagration is beginning to have broader effects at the Port of New York and New Jersey, confirmed Beth Rooney, the port’s director.
“In addition to what is going on at the scene of the fire itself, we’re concerned about maintaining commerce in the rest of the port complex,” said Rooney, who described the impact so far as “modest.”
“We have been working closely with the unified command to manage and understand various impacts that may be evolving,” she said.
The fire broke out at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on deck 10 of the vessel during loading operations. The Grande Costa d’Avorio has over 1,200 vehicles onboard, including new and used cars and vans, as well as 157 containers, and was destined for West Africa.
Two Newark firefighters, Augusto Acabou and Wayne Brooks Jr., died during initial firefighting operations on Wednesday night.
When firefighters first boarded the burning car carrier, they found that their hoses and equipment were incompatible with shipboard systems, according to multiple press reports.
“That is currently a part of our investigation,” said Zeita Merchant, U.S Coast Guard captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey. “We can’t confirm that at this point in time. But it’s a part of what we’re looking at and that information will come out.”
Wiker said that “teams are fighting a variety of fires on several decks in the superstructure.” He said the vessel “is stable with a list to the starboard side” and that the response team “is continuing to monitor the status of the vessel and actions are planned to mitigate further listing.” There is no evidence of a spill in surrounding waters, he added.
According to Gordon Lorenson, project manager at salvage company Donjon-SMIT, the salvage company appointed by Grimaldi Deepsea, “Our plan for today is to contain the fire, cool the vessel so the fire no longer spreads and we keep it toward the top decks where it’s currently located, and work on dewatering the vessel — getting rid of the water that is being put on the vessel via fire pumps and taking some of the list out of the vessel so it remains stable.
“Every single one is different,” said Lorenson, speaking of shipboard fires in general. “You can do all the training in the world and you’re going to find something you’ve never seen before.
“Access is tough. The heat is extreme — it’s a steel box. So, it’s a very complex situation. You need a very good plan to be able to put firefighters in the vessel to actually put out these fires.”
Regarding effects on the port complex in general, Rooney explained, “The channel in which the vessel is tied up has been closed to ship traffic. As a result, there is a modest amount of cargo activity that has been impacted, predominantly automobile [shipping].
“Additional car carriers that were expected to call at the port within the last 36 hours have been impacted. They remain at anchor. We’re working through contingency plans to move that cargo.”
Rooney continued: “Our container business is vitally important. We are the second-largest port in the country and the largest on the East Coast. And the good news is that the impact on the container terminals has been completely negligible. About 99.5% of our container activity is not impacted by these events so far. We’ll continue to monitor the situation, work closely with the terminal operators to mitigate any impact, and work through contingency plans to keep commerce moving.”
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