Cargo ship was ignited by a Jeep dripping 'fireballs' while pushing vehicles on board, NTSB finds

A deadly occurrence aboard a cargo ship being loaded with utilized cars astatine Port Newark successful July 2023 was ignited by a Jeep that dripped “flaming fireballs” arsenic it strained beyond its capableness to propulsion vehicles connected board, national investigators said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board met publically successful Washington Tuesday to unveil its findings astir the inferno wrong the Italian-flagged Grande Costa D’Avorio, which smoldered for astir a week and resulted successful the deaths of 2 Newark firefighters.

In summation to utilizing an unrated Jeep to propulsion vehicles into presumption connected the ship, the committee said that a c dioxide occurrence suppression strategy was ineffective due to the fact that a store doorway had to beryllium closed for it to run correctly, and could lone beryllium unopen from inside, wherever the occurrence was raging successful cramped conditions, with vehicles parked arsenic narrowly arsenic 4 inches (10 centimeters) apart.

The NTSB besides singled retired the Newark Fire Division for criticism, saying its chiefs “exposed firefighters to unnecessary risk.” The archetypal responders were not acquainted capable with marine firefighting, and the city's occurrence section lacked a occurrence power program for the ship.

“Staff feels that Newark Fire Division, responding land-based firefighters should not person gone into the space,” 1 of the investigators said Tuesday.

Messages seeking remark were near with the Newark Fire Division and with Ports America, the institution overseeing cargo operations astatine the port.

The blaze ignited arsenic the vessel was being loaded with astir 920 mostly utilized vehicles enroute to West Africa. Port workers were utilizing a Jeep Wrangler to propulsion nonrunning vehicles into the vessel erstwhile a idiosyncratic heard “clunking noises” and different relation reported seeing “flaming fireballs dripping” from the Jeep, according to the board. The Jeep had pushed 37 different vehicles connected committee by that point, investigators said.

Federal rules necessitate that immoderate conveyance utilized to propulsion different vehicles onto a vessel meets standards for specified work. The Jeep didn't conscionable that Occupational Safety and Health Administration modular and was straining beyond its capacity, the board's investigators said.

“Maybe it was a readily disposable vehicle,” 1 researcher said Tuesday. “Maybe they overlooked OSHA requirements that it couldn't beryllium utilized successful that mode — conscionable speculating.”

The occurrence began connected platform 10 of the 12-deck ship, investigators said, and the ship's unit had activated the c dioxide suppression system, but it required the ship's exterior store doors to beryllium closed to run effectively. Because the doorway connected the apical platform couldn't beryllium closed but from wrong the ship, it remained open, according to the board's presentation.

Newark firefighters rapidly responded — and got mislaid wrong the vessel, the committee said, arsenic acheronian fume billowed into the sky.

“We cannot find our mode out,” the committee said 1 firefighter relayed. “We are lost.”

Newark firefighters Augusto “Augie” Acabou and Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr. were killed. Firefighting boats yet blasted h2o cannons astatine the vessel for days to extinguish the blaze.

Board members noted that relatives of the fallen firefighters were contiguous astatine the gathering and expressed condolences to them.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark's port, relies connected section occurrence departments to assistance with fires since it doesn’t person its ain firefighting agency.

Authorities earlier declined to reply whether firefighters should person gone into harm’s mode to enactment the blaze retired erstwhile nary lives appeared to beryllium astatine risk, with the ship's 28 unit members harmless and accounted-for. Fritz Frage, who was Newark's nationalist information manager astatine the time, said the metropolis and larboard authorization person continuing conversations astir training. He didn’t connection specifics.

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