Massive auto cargo ship that burned in June, injuring 9 firefighters, finally towed out to sea

The Coast Guard on Sunday escorted out to sea a giant auto hauler cargo ship that burned for almost a week and a half in June after an explosion that sent nine firefighters to the hospital.

A tweet by the Coast Guard said the ship was in a “dead ship tow” on Sunday, heading to sea 87 days after it caught fire near Blount Island on the St. Johns River. 

The initial fire on board the M/V Hoegh Xiamen, an almost 600-foot ship, was reported June 4 on the seventh deck. The ship had loaded about 900 vehicles in Texas, then picked up 1,500 more in Jacksonville. It was to go to Baltimore to get about 900 more before taking them to Africa when the fire and explosion occurred, JaxPort officials said.

Almost 150 firefighters initially responded to the fire on the Norwegian vessel. One firefighter was hospitalized due to heat exhaustion, and eight more were injured and burned when an explosion occurred inside the ship, fire officials said.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Chief Keith Powers said some of the firefighters faced “months and months of recovery.”

The day of the fire, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville Capt. Mark Vlan said firefighters told him that cars on the top five decks were melting from the heat. He said the explosion could have occurred due to a pressure build-up in the upper decks during the initial fire after the ship’s emergency systems closed vents.

For days fire boats and engines sprayed the ship’s hull to cool it and prevent a rupture that could release fuel oil and other contaminants into the St. Johns River, or even cause the ship to sink, officials said. Thermal imaging recorded some hot spots at close to 1,000 degrees.

The Hoegh Xiamen fire was called the worst ship fire Jacksonville firefighters have battled in four decades.