Response operations continue after a Nov. 21 fire on the containership One Henry Hudson in the Port of Los Angeles, with ongoing monitoring to ensure the fire remains contained and air quality safe, Coast Guard officials said early Wednesday.
As 9 a.m. Tuesday active firefighting operations had “stopped as the fire has been contained as reported by the salvage master aboard the vessel,” according to an agency update.
“Now that the fire is determined to be contained there will be a waiting period to ensure no re-flashes, or heat signatures are detected,” said Coast Guard Capt. Stacey Crecy, the incident commander. “Because the containers were not able to be opened to confirm the fire is completely out, there remains some risk. However, mitigating measures have been put in place to respond to any issues that may arise.”
The Houston-based salvage group Donjon-SMIT has temporary possession of the vessel and is conducting salvage operations. Salvors along with local partners are reviewing a plan to safely bring the 1,102’x150’ One Henry Hudson back to an approved facility at the Port of Los Angeles. A unified command “will approve a plan for safe transit that won’t affect the health of the community or response crew members,” according to the Coast Guard, and “vessel stability will continue to be assessed as operations move forward to the next phases of the response.”
“We will continue to work with our local partners to keep the community informed of current and future operations as we continue our operations,” said the Coast Guard’s Crecy. “Now that there is no active firefighting ongoing, we can look forward to the next steps in bringing the ship back to the pier safely and removing the cargo in a controlled state at the approved facility.”
No firefighting water has been discharged from the vessel. As the One Henry Hudson operates its onboard fire pumps to supply stand-by firefighting hoses, surplus clean sea water in the system is being routed overboard to relieve excess pressure on the system, and kept isolated from contact with any containers or the ship’s cargo.
That’s standard operating procedure for most commercial vessels operating in the port, according to the Coast Guard. Used firefighting water contained inside the cargo hold, to be offloaded under Coast Guard supervision and transported via barge or truck to a waste reception facility.
“Everyone from the salvage operations to the Unified Command and all the supporting agencies are working together to ensure safety of the community, the Port and the response crew,” said Los Angeles Port Police Department Captain Dan Cobos, the local incident commander.
There are no reports of sheen observed outside of the vessel, and meanwhile “responders and containment boom are staged and ready to respond if needed,” according to a Coast Guard update. “Air quality continues to be monitored 24/7 to assess any impact to response crews and surrounding communities. Air monitoring will continue throughout the operations to include transit of the vessel back to port.”
The Coast Guard and Port of Los Angeles Police Department continued to enforce a safety zone around the vessel and maintain a temporary flight restriction.
