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Transportation Safety Board investigating engine fire on the MOL Prestige

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are reviewing an engine fire that burned five crew aboard a container ship west of Haida Gwaii in January.
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The MOL Prestige is shown moored in Seattle, Washington after it was disabled by a Jan. 31 engine fire. TSB investigators are reviewing the fire, which was reported when the ship was about 146 nautical miles west of Haida Gwaii. (Transportation Safety Board)

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are reviewing an engine fire that burned five crew aboard a container ship west of Haida Gwaii in January.

The Jan. 31 fire left the MOL Prestige and its 23 crew without a working engine about 146 nautical miles west of Cape St. James. So far, the cause of the fire is unknown.

Three crew members who were in the engine room when the fire started were airlifted to hospital. Two suffered blistered hands.

The MOL Prestige was adrift for more than a day after the fire before it was towed to Seattle by a salvage tug. A Canadian Coast Guard ship assisted until the tugboat arrived, and no pollution was reported.

Originally bound for Tokyo from Vancouver, the nearly 300-metre, 70,000-tonne cargo ship is owned by Mistui O.S.K. Lines.