The U.S. Coast Guard helped rescue 22 crew members from a vehicle carrier after a fire broke out in the engine room, forcing them to abandon the ship about 630 miles south of Costa Rica.
On Thursday at 1:09 p.m., the Coast Guard Southwest District received a distress alert via Inmarsat from the Marshall Islands-flagged Min Jiang Kou, which reported a fire in its engine room.
The crew activated the ship's carbon dioxide fire suppression system, which initially controlled the fire. The Coast Guard then contacted the vessel’s manager to start coordinating help.
Due to the ship's remote location, the Coast Guard utilized the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER) to find nearby merchant vessels that could assist.
Two ships, the motor vessel Jin Hai Ping and the motor tanker Degu, were redirected to help.
The situation on the Min Jiang Kou worsened later on Thursday. At 11:33 p.m., the crew reported increasing smoke, prompting the captain to order everyone to abandon ship using the lifeboats, while he stayed on board for a while.
Jin Hai Ping successfully rescued all 22 crew members from the lifeboats, while Degu remained nearby to provide additional support. By 12:21 p.m. on Friday, all crew members were safely aboard Jin Hai Ping, which is expected to take them to Akita, Japan.
“The willingness of fellow mariners to respond to a distress call shows the strong commitment of the maritime community to protect lives at sea,” said Capt. Jessica Davila, chief of incident management for the Southwest District. “This rescue demonstrates the importance of international cooperation and coordination in providing timely assistance to mariners in distress.”
So far, there have been no reports of environmental damage from the incident.
The Coast Guard mentioned that the vessel is working with Resolve Marine for further repairs, but they did not provide more details on the condition of the Min Jiang Kou or the extent of the fire damage.
AMVER is a voluntary global ship-reporting system supported by the U.S. Coast Guard that helps rescue coordinators find participating merchant vessels near maritime emergencies. It's often used in long-distance situations where traditional search-and-rescue resources may take hours or days to arrive.