An investigation has begun after a fire broke out in the cargo hold of a CMA CGM container ship off Malaysia.

The French group said the incident happened on 16 April while the technically-managed 9,452-teu CMA CGM Lisa Marie (built 2017) was en route from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Port Klang in Malaysia.

The fire is now under control on the Malta-flag vessel, the shipping company said.

“There have been no reports of injuries, and the vessel is proceeding to Port Klang for further assessment,” CMA CGM added.

“CMA CGM has notified the relevant authorities, and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire,” the company said.

According to maritime rescue authorities in Port Klang and Banda Aceh, the blaze broke out in a container or containers, and the vessel changed course to receive firefighting assistance.

The crew reportedly managed to extinguish the fire but Banda Aceh search and rescue authorities sent two vessels to the site as a precaution.

Photos show a hose being trained on the vessel from a rescue boat.

The ship had reduced speed to a single knot and made a loop 26 nautical miles north of Banda Aceh for one and a half hours.

Lease financing in China

The CMA CGM Lisa Marie is owned by leaseback financier BoCom Leasing of China.

Protection and indemnity insurance is provided by Steamship Mutual.

The incident is the second container ship fire over the weekend.

TradeWinds reported on Monday that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed the death of a seafarer as a result of a blaze onboard a Magsaysay Maritime-owned container ship.

The fire broke out on the 519-teu General Romulo (built 1997) while it was anchored off Talisay City on the island of Cebu on Sunday morning.

And on 7 April, a CMA CGM-chartered container ship suffered a fire that was quickly able to control the blaze.

Danaos Shipping, manager of the 6,552-teu CMA CGM Rabelais (built 2010), said the fire broke out in a container on the ship’s deck.