Containership 'Kamala' On Fire Off Japan - Update

This photo of the MV Kamala shows the fire in the cargo area amidships.

A Liberia-flagged containership is on fire in the East China Sea off the Japanese island of Kuchinoshima.

Japanese media reports say that the containership MV Kamala caught fire early Saturday morning approximately 400 kilometers west of Kuchinoshima, one of the Tokara Islands in Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture.

The Japanese Coast Guard was notified of the incident at approximately 5:30 a.m. Saturday and dispatched assets to assist, reports say. Photos from the scene on Sunday (below) shows firefighting is underway.

No injuries have been reported among the 23 crew members. At this point it is unclear if the crew remains with the vessel or if they have been evacuated.

The vessel was sailing from Gresik, Indonesia to Ulsan, South Korea when the fire occurred, according to AIS data.