U.S. Coast Guard members in Alaska, with the help of the Port of Alaska and the Anchorage Fire Department, battled a fire the night of Nov. 18 on the Atlantic Lily, a 600-foot foreign-flagged tank vessel.
Crew members used fire hoses to put out the fire, which apparently occurred around 10 p.m. when “thick, black smoke was seen billowing from the exhaust stack,” followed “by a loud boom and flames,” according to the Coast Guard.
The vessel was apparently transferring jet fuel at the time, the Guard said.
USCG said there were no injuries or pollution reported at the time of the incident and that cargo operations were halted to conduct a thorough investigation.
“It was determined that an issue with the vessel’s auxiliary boiler caused an improper fuel-to-air mixture, igniting a buildup of soot in the exhaust stack which resulted in a loud boom and flames,” the Guard explained in a statement.
A technical expert was brought in by the vessel’s owners to fix the problem, the Coast Guard said.
