Small Fire on TOTE’s LNG-Converted ‘Midnight Sun’ in Tacoma

A small fire broke out on the TOTE Maritime ship Midnight Sun berthed at the Port of Tacoma Thursday night, but the fire was extinguished quickly by the ship’s crew before the fire department even arrived.

The M/V Midnight Sun, originally built in 2003, is one of two Orca-class ships that TOTE has planned to convert to LNG fuel. A trade notification update posted in August on Tote Maritime’s website said Midnight Sun will be undergoing LNG commissioning this month with the U.S. Coast Guard. The LNG commissioning marks “the final step in transitioning the vessel to operating on LNG.”

You can see the green LNG fuel tank in the photo below, which is actually one of two installed on the vessel. We should point out that the photo below is deceiving, as it’s easy to mistake the lights for flames.

A spokesperson for the Port of Tacoma told us the fire started forward of the house at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday night and was extinguished before the fire department even arrived. They left shortly afterwards.

A spokesperson for TOTE described the fire as “small” and involving vendor equipment on the front deck. No injuries to personnel or damage were reported to the ship. The Tacoma Fire Department was notified, responded, but left shortly afterward. There is also no cargo on board. A statement from TOTE is posted at the bottom of this post.

Here’s another video that has been posted to Youtube:

Midnight Sun typically operates between Tacoma, WA and Anchorage, AK.

The statement from TOTE Maritime is below:

On Thursday evening a small fire began on the front deck of the carrier ship Midnight Sun at the Port of Tacoma and was quickly extinguished by the crew after it was detected. No personal injuries or damage to the ship occurred. The Tacoma Fire Department arrived on scene, assessed the situation and, departed.

Updated: April 14, 2023 (Originally published September 23, 2022)

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