Explosion forces crew to abandon Hong Kong-flagged container ship in the Red Sea

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This article was published 28/01/2025 (278 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An explosion has struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship traveling north through the Red Sea, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said.

The ship was drifting and ablaze about 225 kilometers (140 miles) off the coast of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen held by the country’s Houthi rebels, said the Diaplous Group, a maritime firm. It didn’t name the vessel.

Data from NASA satellites tracking wildfires showed that the blaze burning Tuesday and Wednesday off Eritrea’s Dahlak Archipelago corresponded to satellite-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com for the location of the ASL Bauhinia, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship. It had been traveling from the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port in Dubai to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before beginning to drift on Tuesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire in the Red Sea, which has been repeatedly targeted by attacks from the Houthis. The rebels said last week that they were limiting their assaults following a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis didn’t immediately acknowledge the fire incident.

The vessel was abandoned and the crew later rescued unharmed, another maritime industry official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as authorization hadn’t been given to speak publicly about the incident.

The vessel had advertised itself on broadcasts as being crewed entirely by Chinese mariners, information from LSEG Data & Analytics showed. Ships traveling through the Red Sea during the attacks broadcast messages like that or “Muslim crew” to try and avoid being targeted by the Houthis.

The Chinese navy has been operating in the region as well with three vessels based out of Djibouti, just south of the Red Sea on the Gulf of Aden.

The official described the cargo aboard the vessel as “dangerous,” without immediately elaborating. The ultimate owner of the ASL Bauhinia, CSSC Hong Kong Shipping Co. Ltd., couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

The Red Sea is home to coral and marine life that previously has been threatened by burning ships from the Houthi campaign and the threat of wider oil spills.

The Houthi attacks, which began in November 2023, have halved the number of ships passing through the Red Sea corridor, a crucial route for energy shipments and cargo moving between Asia and Europe. Despite the pledge by the Houthis to limit their attacks, shippers broadly are still shying away from the route over the risks.

About $1 trillion worth of trade passed through the region each year before the attacks.