HCMC – The Panamanian-flagged ship Ah Shin, carrying over 4,500 cars from South Korea to Singapore, caught fire while crossing the waters of Binh Thuan and is now drifting off the coast of Vung Tau City for the fire to be extinguished.

All crew members on board are safe. Currently, the fire has been brought under control, according to information from the Vung Tau Maritime Administration.

Along with 4,530 cars and 21 crew members, the car carrier was also transporting 1,356 tons of diesel oil and other fuels when the fire erupted on February 4.

The fire was detected on the eighth, ninth, and 10th floors, while floors 11 and 12 were full of smoke.

As the crew failed to put out the fire for a day after using up the CO2 fire suppression system, the ship owner called for help from Vietnamese authorities and searched for additional supplies of CO2.

The authorities of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province tried to approach and put out the fire on the Ah Shin ship, which was now 25 nautical miles (or 45 kilometers) southeast of the coast of Vung Tau. However, rough seas and strong winds have made it difficult to approach the ship.

The ship departed from the port of Incheon, South Korea, on January 28 and was built 24 years ago, according to data from Marine Traffic.

Previously, the cargo vessel APL Cairo (Singapore) caught fire in Binh Thuan waters while carrying 2,200 containers from HCMC to China in mid-March 2022. The rescue took over one week.