Fire breaks out on cargo ship carrying over 100 vehicles

Around 40 firefighters have been tackling a fire on board a cargo ship containing over 100 vehicles including cars, vans and diggers at Ipswich docks.

The fire broke out on a lower deck of The Accum at Cliff Quay at around 3.30pm on Monday 10^th December.

Dave Pedersen from Ipswich East station said that the fire covered a four metre square area on the lower deck and confirmed that it was started when sparks from welding work on an upper deck dropped down to the lower deck causing a fire in wooden crates.

Mr Pedersen added: “The access for the crews was incredibly difficult, which made working conditions very treacherous.”

Although crews faced a difficult job tackling the fire, their efforts were helped significantly by the ship’s on board fire fighting system which flooded the decks with carbon dioxide.

Crews had fully extinguished the fire by 5.30pm.