Container ship fire off Canada’s east coast ‘largely contained’
HALIFAX — A fire that has been burning for a week aboard a container ship off Canada’s east coast is now said to be “largely contained” and under control.
The German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says five crew members were transferred back to the Yantian Express on Wednesday evening from one of the massive tugs fighting the fire.
It says the ship is 1,400 kilometres off the Canadian coast and is being slowly towed to port.
The 320-metre ship was travelling to Halifax from Colombo, Sri Lanka, via the Suez Canal when a container caught fire on the forward deck on Jan 3.