The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has disclosed that an electric fault might have caused an exposition on the MT Eastwind ship in Mombasa on Tuesday.
In a statement on Wednesday, December 27, KPA said the local coaster was lying alongside a privately owned African Marine General Engineering Company (AMGECO) ship repair yard.
KPA swiftly responded to the fire incident and contained the fire for nearly an hour.
“KPA Harbour Tug Simba III that is equipped with firefighting capability contained the fire by 1235hrs nearly an hour after the incident was reported by the master of the ship to the KPA control tower. The instant response by the tugboat and fire brigade on the shoreside. ensured normalcy. The cause of the fire according to the Master was likely to be an electrical fault,” read the statement in part.
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During the incident, one crew member who was on the deck watch suffered minor head injuries and was rushed to hospital where he is in stable condition.
KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto commended the crew of Tug Simba III for successfully containing the fire by 1235hrs and return to undertake other shipping works.
"The fire brigade continued to monitor the situation where they left at around 1450hrs after confirming the situation was normalized and safe," Ruto stated.
Mt East Wind is a local coaster that was lying alongside a privately owned African Marine General Engineering Company (AMGECO) ship repair yard in Mombasa Port today.
MT East Wind II operates between Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Tanga. Her last voyage was from Tanga where she had offloaded PMS products. Currently, the vessel is in ballast condition.
