YTI’S McCorkle says training & teamwork fought the ONE Henry Hudson fire

Alan McCorkle, CEO of Yusen Terminals International (YTI) located at the Port of Los Angeles, said the successful fighting of the fire that broke out on the Ocean Network Express (ONE) Henry Hudson last November was one of the toughest challenges he has faced in nearly forty years of working on the waterfront.

In an interview with AJOT, McCorkle said: “In my nearly forty-year career, I would have to say … this is one of the top three ... events that impacted me … it just had to resonate with you in so many ways.”

McCorkle recalled he learned about the fire on a Friday night: “So it was Friday night, November 21st, and we are at the end of a long week. We had had a busy week that week because we had had our Board of Directors in town ... And you get to Friday ‘like man, finally got to the weekend and … heading home and like ready to enjoy the weekend’ …And then I get a call somewhere around 6:30, 6:35, from the Head of Operations: Hey, … we have had a ... pop … a fire on the ship … but don't know the extent of it yet … And so. … my first question… the first question you always ask is: ‘Was anyone hurt?’ At that point, the answer was: We don't know, trying … to ascertain what is going on right now.”

When McCorkle arrived back at YTI, the Los Angeles Fire Department was already fighting the fire on the ship. Thanks to extensive drilling, YTI staff, ILWU longshore labor, US Coast Guard, L.A. Port police and others were supporting that effort: “A key element in the successful combating of fire was the collaboration of many different agencies led by the LA Fire Department was … one of the many responding … agencies we had … obviously, we had Coast Guard, we had multitude … agencies … there that night. But… we have had enough experience with … emergency response, with fire department calls over the years … that we know how it works … we have done drills.”

McCorkle cited the importance of the drills: “But we practice for this. We train for this…We train for terminal evacuations because that's (what is) going on those first … those first minutes. … You're evacuating a terminal. And how's our management? How's ILWU, Customs, and Border Protection? …How is the vessel crew? … Any vendors attending to the vessel? “

McCorkle observed, “A lot of activity going on, but it was not chaos. It was remarkably … organized because people knew what they needed to do.”

Growing Concerns with Fire

As the fire continued into the night, McCorkle said there were growing concerns about the fire impacting other potentially flammable or hazardous cargoes and creating a health and air quality threat to the surrounding communities of the San Pedro Bay including Wilmington, Long Beach and San Pedro: “So they had several drones that were giving them the photos of what it was looking like down there in the ship. So, they got this information on the front-line firefighting, the drone coverage, and understanding what we are dealing with here from the cargo perspective. And I think a lot of care is put into that, and then getting those manifests and saying, okay, what cargo do we have? Do we have hazardous cargo there, dry cargo? What is it? We’ve got to worry, what kind of spread of the fire do we have to worry about? All this is going on, all this activity is going on to say, okay, let's get educated about what's happening in this fire … Different groups down there had air quality monitors … put in place. There were already existing air quality monitors that I didn't even know were in the local area. And then they added some air quality monitors through the course of the night so they could check the hazard to … the local communities.”

Moving the Ship

After careful deliberation, the decision was made to move the ship away from the terminal and into a safe anchorage offshore: “The decision was made by the LA Fire Department. And I think it was a gutsy call.”

McCorkle added, “My recollection is probably somewhere around 11:30 … is when the decision was made. So, following that, three to four hours of this and saying, ‘Okay, here's what we think is the best decision with all the information we have, that we take the ship out to anchorage.’ And the Port had an anchorage that was outside the breakwater, which was deemed safe for navigation … Once we got the ship out there, it won't impede any commerce, it will not create any safety issues for commerce. It won't create any safety issues for ships coming and going. It is the perfect anchorage. We can get it out there. And then the discussion got to be how do we safely get it out there? The ship still had propulsion, but you have tugs on it. And you're going underneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge (linking San Pedro to the Terminal Island terminals and the Port of Long Beach), so you’re going to take this smoldering firing ship, moving it through navigational waters. And at any point, something could happen with that ship that could be significant, Right? And so … we got the Port, the Port pilots, Port police, everybody. And we got a discussion about, ‘All right, we're going to have to stop traffic on the Vincent Thomas Bridge. We're going to have the fire boats going, and the Port of Long Beach had fire boats assisting as we moved the ship.” 
 
At his media briefing in December 2025, Eugene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles, gave his overview of the events: “I would like to address the cargo vessel fire that occurred here at the Port on Friday, November 21st. Most importantly, there were no fatalities and no injuries. I am extremely grateful to all the first responders who ensured the ship's 23 crew members, our waterfront workers, and community resources remained safe throughout the incident.

The fire broke out aboard the Ocean Network Express Henry Hudson while it was working on export cargo at Yusen Terminals. Within minutes, more than 200 first responders were on the scene. A unified command was quickly established with our partners at the United States Coast Guard, the Los Angeles City Fire Department, the Los Angeles Port Police, and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

With community safety as the top priority, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, leadership from the LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department), U.S. Coast Guard, and our LA Port Police decided to move the vessel to anchorage, just beyond the Port complex.

Brave ILWU linesmen untied the vessel under difficult conditions. Our port pilots and tug operators executed the transit seamlessly.

Three and a half days later, the fire was fully contained, and shortly thereafter, the vessel returned to Port, where teams have been working to safely remove the affected cargo and water used to fight the blaze.”

Highlighting the Importance of People and Training

McCorkle said that those events have highlighted the importance of people and training even in an age of automation and AI, where the human element is supposedly less important. As a result, he is looking forward to training the next generation of terminal managers and staff:
“When you see that youthful enthusiasm and you see that glint in their eye …just wanting to take it all in and they've got this whole adventure in front of them on the waterfront! And I don't usually need a lot to get fired up because I'm kind of naturally fired up anyway. I've loved this industry since the time I got into it. …The adventure of it, the variety of it, the dynamic of it. It's unlike anything you'll experience in business. There are other businesses, in all due respect, that have similar things, but the waterfront is special”.
Alan McCorkle was named President and CEO of Yusen Terminals LLC in August 2019, assuming the day-to-day leadership of the Company. McCorkle joined YTI in 2014 as Vice President. Before joining Yusen Terminals and NYK Ports, McCorkle was a team member of the A.P. Moller–Maersk Group for 25 years, holding diverse positions of increasing responsibility. He headed the development of the Pier 400 terminal in Los Angeles, becoming its Managing Director when the facility opened in 2002.