General Average Declared on CMA CGM Petra After Malacca Fire
Cargo interests must post security before their boxes move, with 450 containers due for inspection
General average has been declared on the fire-hit containership CMA CGM Petra, and cargo interests will have to provide security before their containers are released.
CMA CGM told customers this week that the shipowner had invoked general average after the cargo-hold fire and had appointed Albatross Adjusters to run the process. The declaration follows the firefighting, salvage and associated costs incurred since the casualty.
Claims specialist WK Webster has confirmed that general-average security will be required from every cargo interest before delivery, and is working with the appointed adjusters on the form of the guarantees. It has also arranged for a fire expert to investigate the cause of the blaze.
The 2024-built, French-flagged ship suffered a cargo-hold fire in the Strait of Malacca on 23 August while sailing from Singapore towards Lamu, Kenya, on the KILIMA service. The crew initially contained the fire and professional salvors were then called in. The 8,000 teu vessel subsequently moved to Port Klang, where around 450 containers are due to be discharged for inspection.
In a customer advisory dated 9 September the carrier said the situation on board had been brought under control after extensive firefighting, with the ship awaiting permission to berth at Port Klang for inspection of the vessel, the containers and the cargo. No crew injuries and no pollution have been reported.
For the shippers on that sailing the declaration is the expensive part. General average spreads the cost of the salvage effort across ship and cargo in proportion to value, which means a consignment that was never near the fire cannot be collected until its owner or their underwriter has posted a guarantee. With 450 boxes coming ashore for inspection, the delay is measured in weeks rather than days, and the discharge itself will produce the evidence on what was in the hold.
The casualty adds another name to a run of containership fires in which owners have gone to general average, and another set of boxes whose declared contents will be checked against what is actually inside them.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 17 September 2026.
