This week, a crew safely abandoned ship in the Red Sea after a blazing fire followed an explosion aboard their 2,000 teu containership.
However, according to latest information at the time of writing, the explosion has not been attributed to a terrorist attack, but has been blamed on unspecific dangerous goods being carried by the vessel ‘ASL Bauhinia’.
The vessel was traversing the Red Sea around 140 miles south of Hodeida, Yemen, at the time of the explosion, which is a port city under the control of Houthi Rebels.
Naturally, initial thoughts were to fear a Houthi missile attack had taken place due to the ship’s position, but Houthis are limiting attacks to just Israel-linked ships during the Gaza ceasefire and this vessel flies the flag of Hong Kong.
The Loadstar may have uncovered another twist in the tale, when pointing out that the ship was partially operated by Israeli shipping line ZIM up until September last year, according to liner databases.
Regardless of the coincidental circumstances, it appears that maritime officials have confirmed that dangerous goods were the cause, which is completely plausible due to the numerous ship fires that they have been associated with in recent years.
If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.
