It was reported that the ship caught fire on 20 May 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km; 10.9 mi) northwest of the Colombo Port.[21] The Sri Lanka Navy along with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority which got aboard the ship in order to find out the cause of fire had suspected that the fire has erupted possibly due to a reaction to the chemicals being transported on the ship.[22] During the fire incident, the vessel had a crew of 25 members on board.[23]