The car carrier Silver Sky bursted into flames while it was docked at the Port of Antwerp, in the early hours, on October 20. The vessel was loaded with her usual cargo of second hand cars, intended for the export trade to Africa, according to local media.
The 24 member crew was evacuated from the Sky and there were no injuries reported. However the vessel was still smoking and firefighting teams were not able to enter it. Therefore, three response tugs were cooling her hull using water jets as of daybreak on Thursday.
It is said that one of the used cars that were being loaded to the vessel caused the incident.
Records from Equasis have shown that in March, Antwerp authorities had detained the Sky for a five period days due to a number of deficiencies related to fire safety, in addition to concerns for the condition of the vessel’s main engine, electrical systems and navigation equipment.