Cape Town harbour trawler fire sets Twitter ablaze

02 November 2016 - 17:22 By Bobby Jordan

Port officials in Cape Town are battling a fire aboard a 93-metre long fishing trawler laden with fuel and plastic packaging. The 2970-ton vessel caught fire on Wednesday morning while berthed at one of the port's main quays.Several people in the city shared images of the vessel on social media‚ including Ivan Sams ‏on twitter. “Looks like there's a ship on fire in Cape Town Harbour‚” he tweeted.Looks like there's a ship on fire in Cape Town Harbour... pic.twitter.com/ZGxFoUeRsv— Ivan Sams (@ivansams) November 2, 2016CapeTransnet said crew members had been evacuated without injury.“The immediate concern is to ensure no further injury‚ loss of life or environmental pollution‚ as the vessel is said to be carrying 150 kl of fuel and 800 000 pieces of plastic packaging material‚” said a statement by Transnet. Heavy smoke billowed from the vessel over the city centre.Port fire-fighting teams were working closely with the City of Cape Town’s fire and emergency services to control the fire‚ the cause of which is yet to be established. - TMG Digital/The Times..

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