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Crews rescued after major fires erupt on two gas carriers during STS of suspected Iranian LPG off Bangladesh

Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard were able to bring the blazes under control and no casualties were reported, according to a Lloyd’s List Intelligence casualty report

Fires broke out on board the VLGC Captain Nikolas and SGC B-LPG Sophia in the early hours of Sunday while the two were engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of suspected Iranian LPG. Both fires have reportedly been brought under control and no casualties were reported

BANGLADESHI forces have gained control of fires that broke out early Sunday on the very large gas carrier Captain Nikolas (IMO: 9008108) and small gas carrier B-LPG Sophia (IMO: 9175846) off Kutubdia, Bangladesh.

The blazes erupted around 0045 hrs UTC while the two ships were engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of what is suspected to have been a cargo of Iran-origin liquefied petroleum gas, according to a Lloyd’s List Intelligence casualty report.

No casualties were reported from either ship. However, 31 people were rescued by Bangladesh’s Navy and Coast Guard, including all 18 of B-LPG Sophia’s crew. Captain Nicolas’ crew remained on board, although eight locally hired watchmen who were on the ship were among the rescued, Coastguard operations officer lieutenant commander Abrar told Lloyd’s List on Monday.

 

 

The report said teams from Bangladesh’s navy and coastguard were still monitoring Sophia for the risk of re-ignition on Sunday morning.

The fire on board the Tanzania-flagged, 1992-built Captain Nikolas was brought under control around 0330 hrs, while the blaze that engulfed the Panama-flagged, 1997-built Sophia burned until 1230 hrs, according to the report, which cited local media and a statement from the Chittagong Port Authority.

It was not immediately clear from the reports what caused the fire, but a video uploaded to social media platform X appeared to show the two ships in the middle of the STS transfer before thick smoke suddenly erupted from Sophia’s stern, followed by more smoke and, finally, flames.

The ministry of shipping has ordered a probe into the blaze, which was the third tanker fire incident off Bangladesh in just two weeks.

Sophia was cited with 16 deficiencies, including to its “emergency fire pumps and its pipes” in an inspection in Chittagong on September 6, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data. 

Captain Nikolas was last reported to have deficiencies during a March 2024 inspection in Humen Port, China, which cited three deficiencies, including for “fire prevention structural integrity” and “fire protection cargo deck area”.

Lloyd’s List has approached Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard for comment.

The fire broke out exactly a week after the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh wrote to the Chattogram Port Authority demanding “immediate actions required to detain and investigate vessels suspected of carrying sanctioned LPG”, according to a letter seen by Lloyd’s List. The vessels named were Captain Nikolas and another VLGC, Gaz GMS (IMO: 9131539).

The association’s letter was the third time it had alerted local authorities over concerns that Iranian LPG was entering Bangladesh with falsified documents, and the demand garnered local media attention.

Captain Nikolas is one of at least 15 LPG carriers that were found to be linked through a complicated network of Panama-based shell companies by a Lloyd’s List investigation in November.

An analysis published earlier this month found the LPG carriers were also linked with an alarmingly high number of seafarer abandonment reports.

Tanzania is the third flag flown by Captain Nikolas over the past nine months, having also been registered with Panama and Cook Islands earlier this year. 

The vessel’s Automatic Identification System messages sent between September 9 and September 18, ahead of its journey to Bangladesh, are consistent with patterns of manipulation.

Lloyd’s List has approached Captain Nikolas’s shipmanagement firm for comment.

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