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This just in from the Boston Globe:

Firefighters battled through smoke and heat to quench a blaze early this morning in the bowels of a Navy ship in dry dock on South Boston’s waterfront.

The fire in the steering gear room of the Sisler, a cargo ship, was reported just before 3 a.m., said fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

Two firefighters and two civilians were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, said EMS Deputy Superintendent John Doyle. The fire caused an estimated $750,000 in damage.

Firefighters wearing air tanks dragged 600 feet of hose to reach the fire, which was in the ship’s stern, MacDonald said. He likened their job to fighting a fire on the third floor of a windowless 15-story building.

It took about a 30 minutes to find the fire and another half-hour to knock it down, he said. About 60 firefighters battled the blaze. Read More…

This gigantic ship, the USNS Sisler is the fourth Bob Hope Class LMSR (large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ) to be built by NASSCO shipyard for the U.S.’s Military Sealift Command. The AMO union newsletter (story link) tells us the management contract of the ship went to American Overseas Marine Corp (AMSEA), a division of General Dynamics, in 2005 but we are unsure of the manning situation since the vessel entered drydock. (It is now managed by Maersk Line, thanks John)

We don’t know the cause of the incident but it sounds to us like the ships crew and local fire department did an excellent job containing and extinguishing this fire. If you have more information please email it to us at tips{at}gCaptain.com

UPDATES:

Not much new information but I picked up this gem: “Firefighters resorted to the use of special one-hour air bottles”

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