Firefighters have spent the night fighting a problematic blaze aboard the Iron Chieftain bulk carrier at Port Kembla.
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Crews have now extinguished the fire on a conveyor belt on the ship's outer deck, however the blaze continues to burn down inside the cargo hold.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Norm Buckley said a small number of firefighters made the fraught trip down inside the cargo hold overnight, in order to report on how the fire was behaving.
The intelligence-gathering trips lasted only as long as the firefighters' oxygen cylinders and safety concerns would allow - about 10-15 minutes.
"We have pulled them out when it's gotten a little bit dangerous," Supt Buckley said.
"It's not so much the iron ore burning; it's really the rubber and dust and that sort of thing.
"There is a fair amount of water down there and also obstructions from the ship.
“It's very, very difficult to put firefighters down there so a lot of our firefighting operations are from the deck or from the wharf."
The fire is believed to have begun on a conveyor belt, which disintegrated and partly dropped down into the hold, which housed a partial load of the gravel-like steelmaking material dolomite.
A thermal imaging camera is being used to monitor heat levels below deck, with the firefighting strategy largely focused on reducing the temperature in the hold area surrounding the smouldering mass.
"All thermal readings at this stage have been pretty good. There's been no escalation in readings and some have decreased a fair bit," Supt Buckley said.
WorkCover and the Environmental Protection Authority are keeping watch over the firefighting effort, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the blaze.
The bureau sent three transport safety investigators to the site later Monday.
Once the blaze has been fully extinguished, the investigators will board the ship and begin collecting evidence.
"The evidence collection phase will define the size and scope of the investigation and determine the expected timeframe for the completion of a final report," the bureau advised.
"During this phase, investigators will examine the vessel and interview the crew and first responders, amongst other activities."
About 80 firefighters remain at Port Kembla, with operations expected to continue throughout the day.
