Most cargo on Espirito Santo Express lost as fire is brought under control

The fire on board the containership Espirito Santo Express has been brought under control, more than two weeks after it broke out in the South Atlantic on 15 October, but the vast majority of her cargo is expected to be either severely damaged or a total loss. Hapag-Lloyd, which charters the ship, and Ocean Network Express gave that assessment in customer advisories, based on information from the owner, Seaspan. MSC is also reported to have containers on board.

"The fire is meantime under control, but it will take considerable time to bring the vessel into a Port of Refuge and assess the damage in more detail," Hapag-Lloyd said. No port of refuge has been named.

The Singapore-flagged ship, built in 2018, is about 330 metres long with a capacity of about 11,923 teu and previously sailed as Seaspan Harrier. She was on her way from Singapore to Santos when smoke was seen coming from cargo in a bay forward of the accommodation block and a major fire developed. The casualty happened in a remote stretch of ocean, with Tristan da Cunha among the nearest inhabited land.

What happened to the crew?

The 28 crew abandoned ship in two survival craft, 19 in a lifeboat and nine in a life raft. The Portuguese-flagged bulk carrier Aeolian Arrow, also bound for Santos, recovered all of them with her rescue boat in a response coordinated by Brazilian authorities and supported by a Brazilian Air Force KC-390. Her chief officer fell overboard as the rescue boat was being recovered and was not found, and the rescue boat was later swamped and lost. Portugal's Maritime Accident Investigation Office, GAMA, has opened a safety investigation. The rescue was reported here on 22 October.

Seaspan said salvors had been engaged on Lloyd's Open Form terms. The cause of the fire has not been established, and it is not yet known whether particular dangerous goods were involved.

Is HMM Platinum in the same position?

A second containership bound for Santos, HMM Platinum, had a fire among containers earlier in October on a voyage from Kattupalli in India, first detected off the southern coast of Madagascar. The fire is under control, and the ship, with two tugs in attendance, remains some distance off the KwaZulu-Natal coast with Durban indicated as her next port.

Cargo fires on containerships remain a concern for carriers and insurers, both from misdeclared shipments and from cargoes holding large numbers of lithium-ion batteries, which are not currently classed as dangerous goods.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 3 November 2026.