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2010-01-21 04:25:32 - Fire - Mozambique EDIS CODE: FR-20100121-24638-MOZ
Date & Time: 2010-01-21 04:25:32 [UTC]
Area: Mozambique, Província de Sofala, Port of Beira, Beira Damage level: Moderate (Level 2)
Not confirmed information! Description: The fishing company Pescamar has announced that it will open an inquiry into the causes of the devastating fire in Beira fishing port that completely destroyed two of its industrial fishing vessels and damaged a third. The fire, which launched thick clouds of black smoke into the skies above Beira, began shortly before 23.00 on Tuesday night. It took the Beira fire brigade about 12 hours to bring the flames under control, largely because of inadequate equipment. The firemen had to keep interrupting their work to fetch more water. The managing director of Pescamar, Jose Vilas, told Radio Mozambique that the vessels destroyed were relatively new. The company had acquired them three years ago. "The loss of the two ships is total", he said. "They're ships made of strengthened plastic and fibre-glass, and during the fire the very structure of the ships was devoured by the flames. So they are a total write-off". Pescamar is a Mozambican-Spanish joint venture, specialised in prawn fishing. The ships were ready to set out to sea, since the fishing season is about to begin. The Sofala provincial fisheries director, Nelia Domingos, said her directorate has set up a technical commission to look into the causes of the fire. She said that one of the factors that made the fire-fighters' job difficult was that there was no water available on the fishing port quay that could have been hosed onto the flames. Because the fire broke out at low tide, she added, it proved impossible to use the ships' own fire fighting systems.
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