Fire guts cargo ship at Lagos port

A major fire outbreak was averted on Saturday following a blaze that erupted aboard a cargo vessel, CHANG MIN, at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

The ship, which arrived earlier in the day loaded with construction equipment, iron rods, compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks, wooden products, and tyres, caught fire while unloading at Shed 8 of the ENL Consortium Terminal.

Thanks to swift intervention by emergency responders, the fire was contained before it could cause widespread damage. The vessel’s captain successfully steered the ship into port, where rescue teams had already been mobilized and were waiting on standby.

In a statement issued by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the agency confirmed that the fire was extinguished through a combined effort involving its Onipanu-based Cobra Response Team, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Fire Unit.

Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, LASEMA’s Permanent Secretary, stated that the fire broke out during unloading operations in one of the cargo holds containing highly flammable materials. He added that no lives were lost and all crew members were safely accounted for.

“Emergency teams conducted a debrief with the ship’s crew, sealed off the affected compartment to starve the fire of oxygen, and agreed on a coordinated response plan to prevent secondary incidents,” the statement read.

The firefighting teams later reopened the cargo hold to combat the blaze directly. After several hours of coordinated efforts, the fire was completely extinguished, and recovery operations were concluded.

As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire remains unknown.