Among the hazards most feared by those at sea is fire. Even the largest and most sophisticated of vessels are not immune from this danger. As a recent example of this, the 984 foot container ship MSC FLAMINIA, sailing with slightly less than 3,000 cargo containers aboard, caught fire en route from Charleston, South Carolina to Antwerp, Belgium on Saturday, July 14, 2012 in the mid-Atlantic. The as yet unexplained fire reportedly started in a cargo hold and then was followed by an explosion which injured several crew members, one of whom later died. Another crew member is missing.The remaining crew and passengers abandoned the vessel and were later rescued from the lifeboats.
