On the evening of June 23rd local time, a container fire broke out at the port of Antwerp, Belgium, resulting in the closure of its container terminal.
Antwerp Port is the second largest port in Europe, a larger seaport in Belgium, and one of the world's billion ton ports.
The area where the fire broke out this time occurred in Deurganckdok (a major container operation area at Antwerp Port). MPET (jointly operated by MSC and PSA) and Antwerp Portal (operated by DPWorld) were both affected. In order to prevent dangerous situations from happening again, The dock evacuated the ships.
It is reported that on June 24th at 05:30 (local time), the port reported that due to a container fire, terminal operations were temporarily suspended, and shipping traffic in Deurganckdok was disrupted.
As firefighters urgently controlled the fire and moved the boxes to a safe location, shipping traffic in the area resumed. As of 7:30 am local time on June 24th, the fire department reported that the container had been transferred to a "safe location". At present, the dock has resumed operation.
"All relevant personnel are now making every effort to restart all activities as soon as possible," the port pointed out.
It is understood that the fire was caused by dangerous goods! The container on fire contains yellow phosphorus, which is a flammable substance that can easily cause a fire when exposed to air.
This is the second operational interruption at the container terminal of Antwerp Port this month.
On June 7th local time, international shipping and port service provider Yinghai Shipping issued a statement stating that the port of Antwerp in Belgium has temporarily closed some ports due to an oil spill accident, resulting in a disruption of ship traffic.
We would like to remind all freight forwarders and shippers to pay timely attention to the operational status of local ports, understand the information of cargo transportation nodes, and adjust transportation plans in a timely manner.
Source: Souhang Network