Engine Room Fire Breaks Out on Pumba in Red Sea Transit

On the night of July 29, a fire broke out in the engine room of the Pumba, a Liberia-flagged container vessel, while the ship was sailing through the Red Sea. The incident occurred approximately three nautical miles from the Southeast El-Hamra oil platform, which is operated by Egypt’s General Petroleum Company.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources responded swiftly, dispatching three specialized tugboats—Ocean Dahab, PMS-4, and Misr-Gulf 15—to assist with the emergency. Thanks to their quick action, the fire was brought under control and fully extinguished without any reported injuries.

Following the incident, the vessel was towed to a designated safe anchorage, away from critical oil infrastructure and high-traffic shipping lanes, as a precautionary measure.

Built in 2006, the Pumba is a container ship measuring 294.1 meters in length and 32.2 meters in width, with a capacity of 5,060 TEU. According to data, the vessel had departed from Damietta, Egypt, on July 27 and was en route to Qingdao, China, with an expected arrival on August 22. At the time of the incident, the ship was partially loaded.