Massive car carrier vessel catches fire at sea

A Panamanian car carrier heading from Japan to Hawaii caught fire in the Pacific Ocean, with some crew members abandoning the ship and the US Coast Guard and other vessels heading to its rescue yesterday. The Coast Guard said in a statement that crew members launched a life raft and four of the 21 mariners aboard left the Sincerity Ace wearing life jackets. The agency could not confirm if they reached the life raft. The remaining 17 crew members stayed on board to fight the fire. The Coast Guard said other commercial vessels were helping with the rescue 3333km northwest of Hawaii. The statement doesn’t say what caused the fire on the 198m ship.