There is a large fire on a ship in the Port of Amsterdam with significant smoke development. The vessel is carrying scrap metal and the fire started in one of the holds. Firefighting efforts are expected to take a long time.
The fire department received a report of the fire yesterday (15 May) at around 5 pm. The vessel is located at the Vlothavenweg. The incident was soon upgraded to a “Major Fire” classification. Multiple fire units were sent to the scene, including three fire engines, a ladder truck, and supporting vehicles and boats for water extraction. In the evening, a specialist unit from the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region was called in for ship fire-fighting and to support/advise the units on-site.
Also read: Dutch Coast Guard responds to engine room fire on North Sea
Smoke and NL-Alerts
People in the area have been told to stay away from the smoke, to close windows and doors, and turn off mechanical ventilation. Exploration units from the fire department have been conducting measurements throughout the evening to see if any harmful substances have been released. To date, no harmful levels have been detected.
Due to multiple reports from Amsterdam West regarding complaints about smoke and odour nuisance, it was decided to send an NL-Alert. NL-Alert is a mobile phone broadcast alarm system in use by the Dutch government to quickly alert and inform citizens of hazardous or crisis situations. More alerts followed later on yesterday, with the smoke spreading to a larger area. This morning, a new and fifth NL-Alert was issued for the city centre of Amsterdam. Compared to last night, the wind has shifted, causing a new area to be warned.
GRIP1 incident
Due to the duration and complexity of the incident, the situation was escalated to GRIP2 (“Upscaled Coordinated Regional Incident Management”) in the evening, reports the fire department. This was escalated further early this morning to GRIP1 (“Coordinated Regional Incident Management”).
The fire in the hold continued to burn throughout the day. Due to the complexity of the incident and the expected prolonged deployment of emergency services, a collaboration between emergency services and involved partner organisations will work together to combat the fire aboard the ship.
Also read: Scrap metal poses fire hazard on board ships
Fire originates in hold 4
The ship consists of five separate cargo holds, and the fire started in hold 4. It has eventually spread to hold 3. The strategy was to empty the hold and extinguish the burning parts on land. This was also attempted in hold 3, but due to the heat, the hatches of hold 3 weakened and closed.
As a result, the scrap metal in that hold can no longer be reached. Currently, an alternative plan is being worked on intensively. The outlook was that the firefighting efforts will take a long time.
UPDATE SATURDAY 17 MAY: The fire department announced the fire was finally extinguished at around 8.45 pm.
Also read: Tanker and container ship on fire after colliding in North Sea
