(Lt.Cmdr. Michael Salerno/U.S. Coast Guard via AP) After lithium-ion batteries burned in a large cargo ship’s hold for a number of days, the U.S. Coast Guard said late Saturday that the fire was out and directed the ship to anchor near Dutch Harbor.
As a key component of electric vehicles (EVs) or electronic devices, the transport of highly inflammable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is increasingly impacting shipping safety as demonstrated by a number of fires on vessels such as roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) car carriers and container ships.
Passengers were forced to flee the central hub of a cruise ship - later involved in the doomed Verity crew search - after a fire broke out when someone's mobility scooter exploded. Footage taken on Saturday afternoon on board the P&O cruise ship Iona shows people evacuating the vessel's atrium - which houses the dining and entertainment areas.
On Monday evening, an explosion occurred on a river cruise ship docked in the center of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Two hundred people were evacuated from the ship, and a number of them inhaled too much smoke. The explosion happened in the vessel’s battery room, after which a fire broke out.
Confused passengers look on as an elderly man with crutches is helped away by several people. A crew member can be seen with a phone to his ear as people wait nearby. The P&O spokesperson said: " There was a fire in Iona's atrium which was caused by a lithium battery on a mobility scooter.
Footage taken on Saturday afternoon on board the P&O cruise ship Iona shows people evacuating the vessel's atrium - which houses the dining and entertainment areas. The incident happened while the ship was still in dock in Southampton, with the blaze extinguished by on board detection systems, a spokesperson confirmed.