(SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) — U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan marine investigators and vessel inspection teams are investigating two unrelated vessel fires last weekend in Puerto Rico. Both fires were successfully extinguished, and there are no reports of injuries or pollution in either case. Pollution monitoring efforts continue.
The most recent vessel fire occurred Saturday morning aboard Scot Stuttgart, a Marshall Islands-flagged 383-foot chemical tanker, while the vessel was moored at Puerto Nuevo Channel’s N Wharf. At 3:43 a.m., Sector San Juan watch standers received an initial notification of a port generator fire in the vessel’s engine room. The crew reportedly used the ship’s installed fire suppression system to extinguish the fire.
At approximately 5:55 a.m., dense black smoke was reportedly observed in the same engine room. Suspecting the fire had reignited and as a precaution, the crew reportedly isolated the space, and the vessel’s fire suppression system was used for a second time. Following the second attempt, responding local firefighters confirmed the fire was successfully extinguished.
The first vessel fire occurred Friday night aboard the ferry Breezy Point while moored at the Vieques pier after arriving from Ceiba with passengers. At 9:15 p.m., Sector San Juan watch standers received an initial notification of a port engine room fire aboard the vessel and that all passengers were safely disembarked from the vessel. The vessel crew reportedly used a portable fire extinguisher that was deemed ineffective and proceeded to activate the vessel’s installed system, which successfully extinguished the fire.
Fire department crews arrived on scene to assess the safety of all spaces. Breezy Point has a maximum capacity of 249 passengers and conducts routine round-trip voyages between the municipalities of Ceiba and Vieques.
“The Coast Guard is investigating these separate and unrelated vessel fires aboard the ferry vessel Breezy Point and the tanker Scot Stuttgart to ascertain the potential causes,” said Capt. Luis J. Rodriguez, Coast Guard Sector San Juan commander. “Each of these vessel fires warrant investigations to learn causative factors and prevent future incidents from occurring with potential risk to human lives and impacts to Puerto Rico’s maritime transportation and marine environment. I commend the crews from both vessels for their initial actions that led to the fires being extinguished, as well as the efforts of responding firefighting crews, which collectively led to preventing the loss of life and averting a more catastrophic outcome.”
– U.S. Coast Guard
