CMA CGM Petra Cargo Fire Halts Ship in the Strait of Malacca

Fire hit the French container ship CMA CGM Petra in the Strait of Malacca on 23 August 2026. Nobody was hurt.

The blaze started in a cargo hold as the ship headed for East Africa on the KILIMA service, which connects ports in China and Southeast Asia to Lamu, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Salvors were called in. The fire was contained, but the ship remained anchored off Penang, Malaysia, as of 1 September, having missed its planned stop at Colombo.

Cargo from Qingdao, Nansha and Singapore destined for East Africa is at risk of fire, heat, smoke or water damage. General Average had not been declared as of late August, though professional salvors were working under a Lloyd's Open Form contract.

In a customer advisory, Kühne+Nagel said the 8 September arrival at Lamu was equally out of reach.

Two days after the fire, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore gathered at a regional maritime forum in Singapore and pledged the passage would stay open to international shipping.