According to the insurance company WK Webster, ZIM Charleston, the 8,586 TEU container ship, suffered a fire in cargo hold no. 4, whilst navigating off Colombo in Sri Lanka.
It is reported that up to 300 containers may have been damaged in the blaze. Boxes on deck have been removed at the East Container Terminal in Colombo while further investigations are being made to ascertain whether it is safe to discharge containers from the affected hold.
The vessel, which sails under the flag of Hong Kong, is reported to have berthed at East Container Terminal in the port of Colombo, where containers stowed on deck in the affected bays were discharged on 12 August 2022.