Seatrade-Maritime: Fire damaged HMM Namu to be towed to nearby port

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

The explosion and fire onboard the general cargo ship HMM Namu anchored off UAE on 4 May was the subject a meeting of the Office of South Korean President Lae Jay-Myung today.

The 2026-built, 38,000 dwt HMM Namu was struck by an object while at anchor in OPL of Umm Al Quwain, UAE, which security sources believe was either a drifting sea mine or a USV. The incident resulted in an explosion and fire on the vessel. All 24 crew of teh vessel owned by HMM are reported to be safe.

The hour-long meeting into the incident was presided over by Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, and attended by Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, the Head of the Crisis Management Center, the Secretary for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Secretary for Foreign Policy, and the Head of the State Affairs Situation Room.

Speaking about the investigation into the cause of the fire Presidential Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said the government plans to tow the vessel to a nearby port and dispatch personnel from Korean Register in Dubai to conduct safety assessments. To determine the cause of the fire investigators from the Central Maritime Safety Tribunal and forensic experts from the Fire Department will be sent to examine the vessel.

It is expected to take several days to complete an examination of the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile Kang said the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries were maintaining  communications with the vessel and monitoring the safety of the ship and crew in real time.

The HMM Namu is one of 26 South Korean ships trapped in Arabian Gulf since the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the government said it was maintaining daily contact with the vessels.