On November 2, 2024, about 1435 local time, the dredging vessel Stuyvesant, with a crew of 22, was holding station in the St. Johns River, near Jacksonville, Florida, when a fire broke out in the engine room. Two crewmembers were in the machinery control room when the fire started: one escaped, and the other was removed by the shipboard emergency squad and later pronounced dead at a local hospital. After reporting no active fire and removing the crewmember, the crew verified that the engine room was sealed and released the fixed gas fire extinguishing system. No pollution was reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $18 million.

We determined that the probable cause of the engine room fire on the dredging vessel Stuyvesant was lube oil spraying from an auxiliary diesel engine (generator) and igniting off a nearby running diesel engine, due to engine crewmembers not reinstalling a plug after routine maintenance in accordance with the engine manufacturer’s instructions and not thoroughly inspecting the port auxiliary engine before initially starting it.