On August 8, ZIM CHARLESTON, a container ship with a capacity of 8,586 TEU, was on fire in the waters off Colombo, which may have damaged about 300 containers. The charterer declared general average (GA) by ZIM.

The vessel is owned by Hong Kong-based SEASPAN and chartered by Israeli container shipping company ZIM. According to insurance claims company WKWEBSTER, all shippers are required to provide a general average guarantee prior to delivery of the goods.

The container ship "ZIM CHARLESTON" was built in 2011, flying the Hong Kong flag, with a capacity of 8,586 TEU, serving the China India Express III (CI3) route within Asia, and was on a 7W voyage at the time of the incident. It had previously docked at multiple domestic ports before departing from China in July.It once docked at Tianjin New Port on 10-11 July, Shanghai Port on 19-20 July, Xiamen Port on 22-23 July, Hong Kong Port on 24-25 July, and Shenzhen Shekou Port on 25-26 July, before sailing to Singapore, Colombo,Nhava sheva, and Pipavav Ports.

It involves shared cabins with shippinglines such as ANL, CMA CGM, CNC, COSCO SHIPPING, EVERGREEN, GOLD STAR LINE, HAMBURG SUD, KAMBARA KISEN, OOCL, PIL, ZIM, etc.

According to AIS vessel positioning, as of August 24th, the vessel is still anchored at Colombo Port. The original shipping schedule is expected to arrive atNhava sheva Port on the 19th, but the shipping schedule has been severely delayed.