Cambodian cargo ship on fire off Kyushu, southwestern Japan…in name only

OSAKA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — A Cambodian-registered cargo ship, with nine crew members including seven Chinese on board, caught fire off the coast of Kitakyushu City in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka on Friday morning, local press reported.

The fire broke out on the freighter “HAODA 6” in waters about 2 km northeast off shore of the city, at around 3:00 a.m. local time according to the country’s public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK).

After the Japanese coast guard received a distress call from the 1496-ton freighter, it dispatched several patrol vessels to put out the blaze on the ship, the report said.

There were no immediate reports of serious damage from the fire incident.

The official of the Chinese Consulate-General in Fukuoka also confirmed that the ship had a crew of nine Chinese and two Myanmar sailors and the fire was extinguished by noon.

The cargo ship, carrying 980 tons of iron scrap, was sailing from Chiba Port in eastern Japan to Ningbo Port in China when the fire occurred.