Fire hits German boxship off Dutch coast

A rescue mission is underway in the Dutch North Sea after an explosion triggered a fire on board a German-owned containership.

The 1,368 teu 2009-built Victoria L suffered a blaze in the engine room around 13.00 hrs local time near Hoek van Holland.

Two helicopters and multiple vessels have been deployed by the Dutch Coast Guard.

The Liberian-flagged ship, owned by Hermann Lohmann, was on its way from Hamburg to Rotterdam with a crew of 19 when the incident occurred. No injuries have been reported.

Marine Traffic data shows the vessel began exhibiting irregular status changes from 11.43 hrs, alternating between “underway using engine” and “not under command” multiple times.

The ship is located about 56 km west of Scheveningen and has no cargo, the coast guard said, adding that the latest aerial observation has shown little to no smoke development on board.

The cause of the blast is still unknown. The firefighting team was brought on board by one of the helicopters while the second one was on standby on a nearby drilling platform. According to coast guard’s update at 17.16 hrs, the fire in the engine room has been put out, with smoke still visible on board.