MV Hansa Brandenburg was a 2002-built Liberian-flagged container ship operated by the German shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg. On July 15, 2013, one of the containers on board the vessel caught fire forcing the crew of 17 to abandon ship about northeast of Mauritius.Blazing container ship Hansa Brandenburg abandoned and adrift, crew rescued. Black Sea News, July 17, 2013.
General characteristics Hansa Brandenburg was long and had a beam of . Fully laden, she drew of water. Her container capacity, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), was 1,740. For loading and unloading, she had two 40-ton cranes. Hansa Brandenburg was served by a crew of 17.
Hansa Brandenburg was propelled by a single MAN B&W 7S60MC-C low-speed crosshead diesel engine manufactured under licence in China. The main engine, which had an output of , was directly coupled to a fixed-pitch propeller which gave the ship a service speed of . For maneuvering at ports, Hansa Brandenburg had a 900kW bow thruster.
Career Hansa Brandenburg was built in 2002 by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. She was known as Maersk Auckland in 2003–2007 and Tiger Jade in 2007–2011 before reverting to her former name.
2013 fire On July 15, 2013, one of the containers onboard Hansa Brandenburg caught fire while the ship was en route from Singapore to Durban. Unable to fight the fire that had spread to the superstructure, the crew of 17 was forced to abandon ship about northeast of Mauritius. The crew was rescued by another container ship, . By July 18, a salvage tug had arrived at the sceneContainer ship Hansa Brandenburg may be already on tow. Maritime Bulletin, July 19, 2013. and on the following day it was reported that the fire had been brought under control.Salvors board fire-savaged box ship. IHS Safety At Sea, July 19, 2013.
On July 22, it was announced the ship was under tow and a final decision on the port of refuge was yet to be made. Further assessment of damage to the vessel would follow upon arrival. The vessel was eventually towed to Port Louis, Mauritius.
According to NGO Shipbreaking Platform, Hansa Brandenburg was sold for scrapping in Southeast Asia, likely India.Press Release – NGOs call on South Asian countries to halt import of the damaged toxic vessel “Hansa Brandenburg”. NGO Shipbreaking Platform, October 3, 2013.
The Hansa Brandenburg fire was the second serious accident involving a container ship in the Indian Ocean during the summer of 2013. On June 17, the 8,100 TEU container ship broke in two off the coast of Yemen and the stern section sank ten days later. A salvage was attempted on the bow section, but on July 6 a fire broke out and it sank four days later.
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