Hyundai Fortune goes down off Aden: Consequences of

carrying hazardous cargo on board

 Reuters has reported that the 5,551 teu Hyundai Fortune
has indeed gone down120 miles east of Aden after being
devastated by a series of fires and explosions which ripped
through the after part of the vessels from yesterday.
PR News Service exclusively revealed the disaster late
21.3.06
An unidentified Yemeni news agency has also confirmed the
ship has
sunk, but Hyundai Merchant Marine sources continue to say
they are still awaiting information from the scene at the
eastern approaches to the Gulf of Aden.

All 27 crew, who include 22 Koreans and five Chinese, have

been rescued and landed in Aden. One crew member, the
third officer, has been hospitalized suffering from "severe
burns"

The ship was some 60 miles offshore when the explosions

occurred,
basically ruling out any form of likely terrorist attack in
waters where just over three years ago, the vlcc Limburg
was attacked by terrorists.

Another factor stacking up against terrorist attacks

centered on the
strong presence of Dutch naval vessels in the area,
operating under Task Force 150, and indeed it was one of
these warships that played a leading role in the initial
rescue operations. The cause of the explosions is expected
to continue to remain a mystery
for some while, but there have been continued concerns
over safety onboard containerships carrying certain IMO 1.1
labeled cargo from China, particularly centering on stowage
within a container, or onboard stowage of cargoes such as
calcium hypochlorite, barbeque charcoal, thioureadioxide,
expandable polymeric beads, bagged ferro silicon and
fireworks – all exports from China.
The vessel was deployed on the Asia/Europe Express (AEX)
service of the New World Alliance, and was the first to carry
Grand Alliance on the service as part of the co-operation
agreement recently signed between the two groups