The cargo ship M/V Genius Star XI left Dutch Harbor Sunday, nearly 50 days since the ship’s crew reported a fire in its cargo hold and rerouted to Dutch Harbor.
The Genius Star was on a cross-Pacific trip to San Diego before the Coast Guard directed the ship to Unalaska. There, responders boarded the vessel and contained the fire.
The 410-foot Genius Star was moored outside of Broad Bay for over a month before moving to the Unalaska Marine Center in late January. The fire’s cause remains under investigation and no crew members reported injuries.
The ship will continue to its original destination port with its cargo of industrial lithium-ion battery units.
“The vast majority of the energy segments in the ship were not damaged or displaced,” said Jim Butler, who served as liaison officer for the Unified Command working on the response.
“The crew remained on the vessel the entire time, in addition to the salvage master and the lead salvage personnel,” Butler said. He also confirmed no cargo was offloaded during the ship’s stay in Dutch Harbor.
Air monitoring conducted throughout the vessel’s stay showed normal conditions.
“We're glad that the ship got underway,” Butler said. “Hopefully we left as small a footprint as possible in Unalaska.”
At the Unalaska City Council’s Feb. 13 meeting, Mayor Vince Tutiakoff, Sr. thanked the response team for their efforts.
“Not knowing what the conditions of the batteries were, that group did a great job, along with the Coast Guard and the support groups in this community,” Tutiakoff said. “I want to thank all of them for a great job, and for keeping our community safe.”
The Genius Star is expected to arrive in San Diego next Wednesday, Feb. 21.
