Bender Shipyard fire under investigation

A large fire broke out at Bender Shipyard in Mobile, Ala., at around 3:00 p.m.

The fire started aboard Seacor Sherman, an anchor handling tug supply vessel under construction at the yard for SEACOR Marine. The fire started in the engine room of the vessel. All personnel from the shipyard were evacuated without injury, but two firefighters were injured in an explosion onboard the ship, and a third firefighter suffered a medical condition at the scene. Two firefighters have been released from hospital, while one who received burns to the face is still being treated. Firefighters released carbon dioxide in the engine room and used around 300 gallons of foam to smother the flames aboard the ship. After the explosion, firefighters withdrew and used water from ladder trucks and a fire boat to extinguish the fire. Cleanup at the shipyard is underway. The U.S. Coast Guard approved and monitored the offloading of 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel onboard the vessel once the initial fire was put out, despite some reflashes that occurred. The Coast Guard stated that there have been no waterway closures due to the fire. The Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the fire, as the ship was in the water when the fire started. SEACOR Marine has a contract for six anchor handling tug supply vessels with Bender Shipbuilding and Repair, the first of which, John Coghill, was delivered and christened recently.

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