The Misdemeanors and Violations Court in Dubai reportedly imprisoned an Asian ship captain and four other individuals who owned a vessel and shipping firms. This was due to them mistakenly contributing to the burning of properties of others and incurring a massive loss of about Dhs24 million, as containers with several materials were burnt and part of Jebel Ali Port was impaired, besides the damage of unloading and loading machines at the port.

The court sentenced them to jail for one month with a three-year suspension.

During the same session, the court further convicted four shipping firms, one of whom owned the vessel, fined Dhs100, 000 to each firm, and referred the case to a more competent civil court.

The details of the incident date back to 2021 (July), when a massive fire broke out in one of the ships in Jebel Ali based in Dubai.

The civil defence teams immediately rushed to the scene and were able to put out the fire in approximately 40 minutes without death but with minor injuries to the Asian sailors.

The Dubai Government Media Office had declared at that time that the fire caused the burning of a part of the vessel besides causing extensive material damage to the port’s berth. The site of the accident was referred to competent authorities for conducting inspections.

Per the case file and the forensic lab report at Dubai Police, the fire resulted from sheer negligence and incompetence in adhering to the safety protocols, as the cargo shipper did not check the validity and quality of used containers and the validity of transporting dangerous material. They also kept the containers of dangerous materials under the sun for 21 days in Jebel Ali Port at a temperature of about 44°C.

The report suggested that containers were loaded with about 640 barrels of harmful materials, and the vessel owners and cargo shippers failed to coordinate with one another regarding the appropriate time for the container delivery.

Per the report, the ship’s captain, operators, and owners did not register the dangerous materials or separate the containers. They also kept them adjacent to each other; this resulted in the first container exploding.

References: Gulf Today, Khaleej Times