The Trump administration stays silent in regards to the container ship fireplace on the Port of Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Fire Department vessel is actively involved in firefighting and refrigeration operations. A Henry Hudson was shot about a mile from the Port of Los Angeles, near the Angel’s Gate Lighthouse. November 23, 2025

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard District 11

The head of the largest port in the United States said the Trump administration has made no effort to offer help after a fire broke out on a container ship Friday and continues to burn outside the port.

“I tried to set up meetings with Trump Cabinet officials and [U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer] since the inauguration,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNBC on Sunday.

The USTR, Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, an electrical fire broke out on a lower deck of the Ocean Network Express (ONE) container ship One Henry Hudson at 6:38 p.m. local time on Friday. Shortly before 8 p.m., the LAFD said an explosion rocked the ship and knocked out power to lights and cranes.

Residents were told to seek shelter due to hazardous material on board. The shelter-in-place order was lifted Saturday.

According to a ONE spokesperson, the entire crew was safely accommodated aboard One Henry Hudson. Port chief Seroka said about 117 of the 8,000 containers on board the ship were physically damaged.

“ONE is deeply concerned about this incident and is closely monitoring the situation. We thank the first responders on scene and continue to fully support the incident management and subsequent investigation,” the ONE spokesperson said.

On Saturday, the ship was moved four miles out to sea to prevent the fire from damaging port infrastructure. The terminal then resumed operations.

“The ship was about two-thirds full,” Seroka said. “Once all the fires have been extinguished, we need to estimate how much of the load is lost due to the amount of water used to extinguish the fire.”

Los Angeles Fire Department fireboats continue their firefighting operations to stop the fire aboard the cargo ship One Henry Hudson off the Port of Los Angeles, Nov. 22, 2025.

Source: United States Coast Guard

Data scientists from Vizion, which tracks containers on ships in real time, said the containers on board the ship contained machinery; Auto parts for Toyota engine; Components for caterpillar; fresh fruit; Nike Shoes, additional shoes of unknown brands for tennis shoes, clothing and sportswear; Iron and steel components for automobile manufacturers Honda engines; frozen beef for numerous shippers including Hilton food solutions; and medical personal protective equipment, or PPE.

Director Seroka said the faster the government can push for cleanup efforts, the sooner U.S. companies will know whether their cargo could be considered a loss.

“I’ve been doing this job for 12 years,” Seroka said. “U.S. companies need to know the status of their cargo. We’re working as quickly as we can, but we need the federal government to step in and move things along faster.”

Seroka said he spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Moore’s office connected Seroka to the executive who oversaw the commission to rehabilitate the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“I reach out to everyone I know,” Seroka said.

The US Coast Guard is leading the recovery plan. A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard Joint Information Center, which is responsible for the operation, told CNBC that the fire was contained and a fireboat was on site to fight and cool the fire.

Still, Seroka said, there was no coordination at the federal level to carry out the cleanup.

“We know that if the Trump administration steps in, things will get done quicker,” he said.

“The Port of Los Angeles is the largest container port in the Western Hemisphere and the busiest in North America,” Seroka emphasized. “The administration should contact us.”

“Fortunately, our terminals are operational, but we face cargo losses and extensive clean-up work,” he said.

The lack of coordination or even contact with Trump administration officials stands in stark contrast to his experiences with previous administrations, Seroka said.

“I met with the president [Joe Biden] three times during his presidency. I also met with [former Secretary of Transportation] Pete Buttigieg,” he said. “I met with during the Obama administration [former Commerce Secretary] Penny Pritzker and [former Secretary of Labor] Thomas Perez.

Seroka said he also had no contact with Trump administration officials during the president’s first term, which is notable considering that the family of Elaine Chao, his former transportation secretary, owns and operates the New York-based global shipping company Foremost Group.

Insurers say what makes the One Henry Hudson fire special is that it occurred at a berth in a U.S. port.

A City of Los Angeles fireboat shoots streams of water onto the deck as firefighters continue to suppress an electrical fire that broke out below deck of the One Henry Hudson container ship, triggering a major emergency response operation currently anchored offshore after it caught fire Friday evening while docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.

Allen J. Cockroaches | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

“Fires aboard container ships are notoriously difficult to combat,” said John Miklus, president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters. Crews had limited firefighting training and resources aboard a ship, he said, “not to mention the conditions at sea with wind and waves.”

In this case, the ship was in a quiet berth on the shore, Miklus said, and they had trained, professional firefighters and fireboats on site to fight the fire.

“Despite all this support, it still took many hours to get it under control,” Miklus said.

For marine insurers, the problems caused by ship fires are compounded by undeclared or misdeclared cargoes such as lithium-ion batteries and other dangerous cargo.

Seroka confirmed that such potentially dangerous materials were on board.

“If they catch fire, you can’t put the fire out,” Seroka said. “That’s one of the reasons we moved the ship out of the port.”

As the U.S. Coast Guard continues to work to extinguish the fire, the involvement of federal officials in the cleanup effort has become critical.

“There are government-approved works associated with extinguishing the fire on the container ship,” Seroka said.

“We need the push from the Trump administration to hurry up,” he added. “It will take time to resolve the issue once the fire is fully extinguished.”