Fire ignites on Russian nuclear-powered containership

Authorities in Russia have reported that a fire ignited on board a locally-owned and -registered container vessel while it was in lay-up in Murmansk on Sunday, December 24.

Emergency services officials said the fire on Sevmorput, the only nuclear-powered commercial vessel currently in service, was limited to an area of only 30 square metres in one of the accommodation cabins and was quickly extinguished within an hour.

Officials assured that the blaze did not reach the reactor and that the incident did not result in casualties.

Completed in 1988, Sevmorput last underwent an extensive refit during the 2013-2015 timeframe.

Local shipping company Atomflot had said in the weeks prior to the incident that Sevmorput will remain in service only up to 2024. The company intends to replace the vessel with one that will operate on conventional fuel.