Containership suffers engine room fire off Santa Barbara County, California

A fire erupted on board a container vessel while it was sailing in the waters off Santa Barbara County, California, on Wednesday, April 28.

The 962-foot (300-metre) President Eisenhower had just departed the Port of Los Angeles and was en route to Oakland when the blaze ignited in its engine room at 03:00 local time on Wednesday.

The crew then radioed the US Coast Guard saying the fire had put the propulsion out of commission, causing the vessel to drift in a northerly direction.

President Eisenhower was 24 nautical miles off the coast of Gaviota when the incident occurred.

The coast guard despatched assets including the patrol boat Blacktip to assist the containership’s crew in firefighting efforts. The coast guard later said in a tweet that the fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported among the crew.

The damaged vessel was subsequently taken under tow by a number of tugs and brought towards Los Angeles.