The fire on board crude oil tanker Genessa (IMO 9183647) was extinguished during the night of January 18th after 28 hours of firefighting by 10 tugs.
Marine and fire staff from Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) – the official name of Kandla Port since September last year – along with the deputy conservator and the harbour master, boarded the vessel on January 19th and sealed the accommodation quarter where the fire was suspected to have begun.
A vessel from Kandla port, Gujarat, western India, was called to dewater the oil tanker as the engine room was filled with water. This had led to a list. There was no spillage of cargo or the furnace oil. The cargo compartment of the tanker, which was carrying nearly 31,000 tonnes of high-speed diesel (HSD), was also secured. The priority was then to offload the HSD from the vessel, either by transferring the HSD to another ship or to bring the tanker to berth and then offload. The pipeline and wiring was said to have been badly damaged in the fire, which meant that the HSD transfer could take up to a month. The focus has also now shifted to emptying nearly 600 tonnes of furnace oil from the vessel. The fire appears to have been caused by a leak of furnace oil in the engine room. DPT has kept three of its tugs near the vessel as a standby.
The crew of 26 and the master were safety disembarked, but the Chief Engineer and the Electric Officer were already unconscious, and one of them died in hospital. The other was in a critical condition.
All inward movements were temporarily cancelled by Kandla port authority. The port also instructed all the vessels anchored at Kandla Outer Roads to heave up their respective anchors and move to a safer distance further to sea, a minimum of 5 nm, while the fire was fought.
2000-built, India-flagged, 27,645 gt Genessa is owned and managed by Seven Islands Shipping Ltd of Mumbai, India. It is entered with American Club on behalf of Seven Islands Shipping Ltd.