A Maersk container vessel may have been carrying cargo from Australia when a fire broke out in its holding area, National Transport Insurance (NTI) says.

The vessel was on its way from Singapore towards Suez when the fire happened.

“Given the practice of transhipping freight from Australia via Singapore, it is possible NTI customers have cargo on board,” the insurer says.

The fire broke out in the cargo hold last Tuesday on the Singapore-registered Maersk Honan, which was carrying 7860 containers or the equivalent of 12,416 twenty-foot equivalent.

Maersk is still investigating the cause of the fire, which happened when the vessel was about 900 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman.