A huge fire erupted on the US Navy amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans off the coast of Japan near Okinawa on Wednesday afternoon, raging for over 12 hours before being extinguished. Two sailors were injured during the incident, the Navy said.
The fire started about 4 p.m. local time as the San Antonio-class vessel, with more than 360 sailors aboard, was moored at the White Beach Naval Facility, a primary logistics and support center for the US Seventh Fleet in the Pacific. It took the end of some 12 hours, with the help of Japanese military personnel, the Japan Coast Guard, and US naval authorities, to bring the blaze under control by around 4 a.m. Thursday.
Japanese media video captured firefighting crews spraying water on the 684-foot, 24,000-ton ship. Firefighting efforts were maintained until well past 9 a.m., when authorities confirmed that the fire was completely out. US Navy authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, and the crew will stay on board during assessment.
Two seamen were given minor treatment for injuries at the medical center aboard the ship. The Navy won't say how extensive the damage was, but local accounts suggest areas that were damaged consisted mainly of storage and berthing spaces.
The USS New Orleans, which was commissioned in 2007, can carry as many as 800 soldiers and is a crucial part of US naval operations in the Pacific. Navy officials were keen to point out that there were no serious injuries, and the crew acted in a timely manner to contain the incident.
The accident reminds of the destructive fire on board USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego in July 2020, which raged for five days, resulted in heavy structural and electrical damage, and resulted in the scrapping of the ship. A sailor who was initially accused of igniting that fire was later acquitted, but a Navy report attributed several leadership and crew response failures.
Authorities have opened an official inquiry into the reason for the USS New Orleans fire, and more information is on the horizon as evaluations continue.
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