15-04-2025
NTSB holds meeting on cause of Port Newark cargo ship fire that killed 2 captains
The National Transportation Safety Board is holding a meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to determine the probable cause of the
deadly Port Newark cargo ship fire
in New Jersey.
Newark Fire Captains
Augusto Acabou
, 45, and
Wayne Brooks Jr.
, 49, were killed when the Italian-owned
Grande Costa D'Avorio
caught fire in July 2023. Five other firefighters were injured.
The cargo ship was loaded with 1,200 vehicles at the time, and the massive blaze
continued to burn for six days
.
NTSB investigators have said it was sparked when a Jeep Wrangler that was used to move cargo onboard the ship caught fire.
"The men loading the ship were using a Jeep Wrangler to push cargo upon the ship. That Jeep Wrangler was having known mechanical issues throughout the day and was in fact smoking," said Mark Apostolos, the attorney representing the victims' families. "And despite that, those men continued to use that Jeep Wrangler until it started a blaze."
A spokesperson for the Grimaldi Group said at the time that pusher vehicles are regularly used to load vehicles, but the company couldn't comment because it's owned and operated by two other companies.
The Newark Firefighters Union and the victims' loved ones have said they were
not properly trained on how to respond
to this type of fire.
"They never had ship board fire training and this was absolutely a contributing factor to their deaths," the union
said in a statement last year
.
Acabou was a 10-year veteran of the fire department, and Brooks, affectionately known as "Bear," spent 16 years with the department after graduating first in his class at the academy. Both men were posthumously promoted to the rank of captain.
During Tuesday's hearing, the NTSB will vote on the findings of the draft final report, as well as any changes.
