Name Kitano Type Container ship Launched 1990 Draft 13 m | Status Unknown Tonnage 50,618 GT Length 288 m | |
Draught 13.025 m (42 ft 8.8 in) Propulsion 31,538 kW (42,293 hp), single screw | ||
Kitano container ship 2011 10 18 osaka japan
The Kitano is a Japanese container ship. She was launched in Japan in 1990.
Contents
2001 fire
The Kitano left the Port of New York at 0730 on 21 March 2001. At 1600 the Kitano's crew observed that a container had caught fire. The container that caught fire contained 14 tons of activated carbon pellets impregnated with potassium hydroxide (caustic potash). Most of the pellets were in open mesh bags on wooden pallets. Two nearby containers were: "...loaded with barrels of camphene-90 wax, a class 4.1 dangerous cargo."
At 1636 the Kitano requested assistance. Halifax was the nearest port. Search and Rescue aircraft were dispatched, as were several surface vessels, the CFAV Firebird, the CCGS Earl Grey and the CCGS Sambro. When the vessels were dispatched the wind was at force 8. The weather conditions proved too extreme for the 140 ton Firebird, the Canadian Forces' dedicated fireboat, to leave harbour. The Canadian Coast Guard vessels arrived, but the weather prohibited anything beyond standing by. HMCS Moncton and HMCS Goose Bay arrived several hours later. CCGS Sir William Alexander arrived at 0500 the next morning.
The vessel's Japanese owners contracted for assistance from Secunda Marine Services, the owners of the ocean-going salvage tug Ryan Leet.
It was not considered safe to allow the Kitano to enter Halifax Harbour for almost 24 hours because of the danger of the fire spreading to the containers filled with camphene-90 wax. The Kitano's crew had been fighting the fire without assistance for 25 hours before they received any outside assistance due to the bad weather.
The fire was extinguished by 2215. The content of fifteen containers had been damaged by the fire or by the fire fighting efforts. The Kitano departed Halifax on March 26, 2001 with the rest of her cargo.