The U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday it was investigating the fire on a vessel at the Port of Houston, Texas, that killed two crew members on Monday morning, as a “major marine casualty” due to damages of over $500,000.

“While the cause of the incident remains unknown, the fire reportedly occurred during bunkering operations,” the Coast Guard said in an emailed statement.

The fire was in the engine room of the container ship Stride, and firefighters put it out in about an hour after it was first reported, the Coast Guard added.

“Sadly, two ship crew members lost their lives, and another was injured and transported to a hospital via a medical transport helicopter,” a spokesperson for Port Houston said on Monday.

The port owns and operates the eight public facilities along the 52-mile (84 km) Houston Ship Channel.

The ship was docked on the channel side of the Barbours Cut container terminal at the time of the incident, prompting port officials to restrict vessel movement in the ship’s vicinity. Port operations were not impacted.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the fire.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Deep Vakil and Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru)