​On January 4, 2025, about 2323 local time, the bulk cargo vessel Lem Verbena was docked at the Alabama State Docks on the Mobile River in Mobile, Alabama, with 19 crewmembers on board when a fire started in the engine room. The crew activated the vessel’s carbon dioxide fixed fire extinguishing system. Shoreside firefighters later determined the fire had been extinguished. There were no injuries, and no pollution was reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $5.5 million.​

​We determined that the probable cause of the fire on the bulk carrier Lem Verbena was the failure of an O-ring seal on the composite boiler burner unit oil fittings block due to the radial misalignment of the two fuel ports on the block modules, causing pressurized diesel fuel to atomize and ignite on a nearby hot surface.