By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – Although investigators are conducting a joint probing of what caused the July 5 Port Newark cargo ship fire that burned for seven days, killed two Newark firefighters and injured five more from Newark and Elizabeth fire, there are some contributing conditions, circumstances and factors that have come to light.
The U.S. Coast Guard is leading a team of detectives and inspectors from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Newark Fire Department Arson Division. the New Jersey State Fire Marshal, the National Transportation Safety Board and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in scouring the Grande Costa D’Avorio for evidence and clues.
The seven agencies’ inspectors have also been taking testimony from people who were at the scene, from responding firefighters and the crew of the Italian registered ship. The 28 shipmates, all employees of the Grimaldi line, are kept in local hotels, unable to go anywhere until either the inquest is done or are allowed to return to work – whichever comes first.
One of the questions being asked of the ship crew is whether any had disconnected the battery terminals of the over 1,200 motor vehicles on board.
Grimaldi Deep Sea on July 8, presented the ship’s manifest which stated that none of the 157 cargo containers had any hazardous containers and that none of the vehicles were lithium ion equipped electric cars.
An NTSB report on the June 2020 Hoegh Xiamen cargo ship fire at the Port of Jacksonville, Fla. traced its cause by “an electrical fault in an improperly disconnected battery in a used vehicle.” The fire aboard the Grimaldi ship injured nine firefighters, took eight days to extinguish and wrote off $2,240 used cars at a value of $40 million.
One has to also consider that modern motor vehicles are furnished with a range of combustible fluids and flammable materials.
Then there is the compatibility between the port’s water lines and the ship’s on board lines.
The crew of NFD Engine 16 quickly found out that their 2.5-inch diameter hoses would not mate with the 2011-built Grande Costa D’Avorio’s internal one-inch diameter lines. Firefighters had to use the ship’s own one-in. fire hoses to battle the blaze.
Newark’s firefighters union leadership, on July 8, said that the city’s own fire boat “wouldn’t start.” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh personally approved NFD’s mutual aid request at 1 a.m. July 6. An FDNY spokesperson said that they did not get a mutual aid request until 12:40 a.m.
The equipment mishap and delayed mutual aid call has led some, including Gov. Phil Murphy (D-Rumson) to ask whether the Port Authority should have a Port Newark/Port Elizabeth fire department of its own.
Port Authority Port Newark / Elizabeth’s territory extends into Jersey City and Bayonne. The Port Newark Container Terminal alone, at 272 acres is the largest on the East Coast and only second to the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. Newark Liberty International Airport, which Newark leases out to the PA, is 1,000 acres.
The PA, aside from its own police department, is largely dependent on the host municipalities’ first responders. Having a PAFD, reason some, would create a force that would combat specialized fires.
“The PA has a small crew that fight smaller fires,” said Mayor Ras Baraka. “When they have big, structural fires, they always call Newark.”
An argument broke out over NFD preparedness during the July 8-9 weekend. Newark fire union officials claim that “Newark’s bravest” suffers from unit understaffing and being financially under-resourced.
Baraka and Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson countered that city firefighters get training for cargo ship fires. Jackson added that a large wave of NFD retirements during the global COVID pandemic may have led to not all firefighters getting specialized training when the first alarms were received at 9:25 p.m. July 5.697 foot-long, 12-story,
The Grande Costa D’Avorio remains moored along a Port Newark dock. The 697-foot-long, 12-story,47,000- ton ship had arrived from Baltimore on its way to deliver its cargo in West Africa.
That voyage has been delayed – and may never happen. There are insurance adjusters, waiting their turn to board, who will determine whether the ship and/or its cargo is salvageable.
