Garland

The "Stove Trader", which suffered a fire in one of its holds on July 22, while at the port of Aqaba has been moved to a general berth where fire fighting teams have been able to access the whole ship to check for damage. On July 18 the vessel had arrived at Aquaba coming from Penang and was anchored on Aquaba roads. While the offloading was under way, a fire was spotted. The crew closed the cargo hold and activated CO2 fire extinguishing system. Investigations were continuing into how the ship, carrying some 20,000 tons of timber caught fire. The ship’s seaworthiness was now being assessed.

A spokesman for the Jordanian body that handles firefighting says the Norwegian-owned ship Stove Trader laden with wood has caught fire while unloading in the Red Sea port of Aqaba. Civil Defense spokesman Brig. Farid Sharaa says the reason for Tuesday's blaze is being investigated, but he doubts it is arson. He says no casualties or injuries were reported, and that Jordanian firefighters and the crew were close to putting out the fire. He says the vessel was laden with 20,000 tons of wood. No other details were immediately available.