A statement from the Japanese Navy’s 7th Fleet said that a fire burned on a US Navy warship anchored 12 hours from Okinawa, causing injury to two sailors.
The fire onboard the USS New Orleans, the transport dock ship of Acking, an amphibious transport dock ship capable of carrying more than 360 crew members and 800 troops and 800 troops, began around 4pm local time, according to the statement.
However, a statement from the Japanese Coast Guard that helped fight the fire said the fire service did not end until just after 9am local time, and an investigation is underway to determine whether it has completely disappeared.
The Navy said two seafarers suffered minor injuries and were treated at a medical facility on board.
When the fire broke out, the ship was anchored from the White Beach Navy Facility on the east coast of the Japanese island. The facility will serve as a staging area for the US Marines and their equipment to deploy on amphibious ships like New Orleans, 684 feet long with a displacement of 24,000 tons.
The New Orleans crew were supported by USS San Diego crews who were also moored at White Beach, the Navy said.
The Japanese Coast Guard, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and other US Navy Commands in Okinawa “provided critical support for firefighting operations,” the Navy statement said.
Images from Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed tags spraying water in front of New Orleans.
According to a statement from the 7th Fleet, the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said fires are always dangerous for warships carrying a lot of flammable material.
The US Navy’s worst vessel fire in recent years occurred in July 2020 on the amphibious attack ship USS Bonhonm Richard, but was upgraded to carry F-35 fighter jets at San Diego ports. The fire burned for more than four days, and the Navy disposed of a billion-dollar ship.
Navy investigations found that the fire was the result of a series of systematic obstacles, including maintaining the ship, ensuring proper training, providing coastal support, and implementing monitoring. After the fire, the service introduced new inspection and training procedures to prevent future fires.
Analysts said at the time that even if a ship like Bonhom Richard lost for months, they could retreat service preparations for years.
Fire damage could cause New Orleans to take action for 60 to 120 days, Schuster said.
He said the New Orleans fires indicate that the Navy will once again “review and improve fire prevention and fire procedures.”
“That level of fires were once rare on US Navy warships,” Schuster said.
Junko Ogura of CNN contributed to this report.
