Vessel traffic resumed in the Houston Ship Channel after it was shortly stopped due to a fire aboard the 19,508 dwt chemical tanker Jo Kiri yesterday, Reuters cited the United States Coast Guard.
Houston Ship Channel was closed for an hour after the 2003-built vessel, owned by Jo Tankers AS, reported smoke in its engine room.
After the fire-damaged tanker, which was blocking the traffic in the waterway, was moved to a berth, the traffic resumed at around 4 pm local time.
Reuters said that no injuries were reported in the incident.
According to AIS data provided by MarineTraffic, the 145-meter-long tanker was moored in Houston on December 6.
At the time of the incident the vessel was on its way to Houston’s Vopak terminal, VesselsValue data shows.
World Maritime News Staff