68 firefighters attended an incident onboard a Stena ship in Belfast on Tuesday night.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) say they were called to Victoria Terminal 1 on Dargan Road at 9.15pm.
13 fire appliances including the NIFRS Specialist Marine Response Team attended.
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Speaking to GMU, Ryan Gray from the Belfast Coastguard said: "I don't believe there is an indication of how the fire started yet. One thought process is as the metals were moving, they were generating heat. That's one possible cause.
"Any fire onboard a ship is very dangerous but the crew are extremely well trained at how to deal with it and they dealt with it extremely fast last night."
An update from the NIFRS said: "Yesterday (Tuesday 24 January 2023) at 9.15pm Stena Line crews contacted NIFRS when they identified smouldering from the contents of a trailer on an articulated lorry on board a ship at Victoria Terminal 1, Dargan Road, Belfast. 13 Fire Appliances and 68 Firefighters from NIFRS attended the incident.
“The lorry was removed from the ship to the quayside and a container was dealt with by Stena Line crews and NIFRS Firefighters.
“The incident was dealt with by 11.45pm.”
A Stena Line spokesperson said the vessel involved was the Stena Scotia, which is a freight only vessel and was on route to Heysham.
They added that a trailer 'was found to be heating up with a small amount of smoke coming it'- but 'there was no actual fire'.
The crew cooled it with hoses, 'but as a precaution the vessel returned to port and the fire brigade were called', the spokesperson continued.
The spokesperson added: "Once at port, the trailer was drove off the vessel and the ship proceeded to Heysham."
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