SIMIC

Following a fire, which started in a shipment of Vivo mobile phones at Hong Kong Airport last month, a number of airlines has banned their carriage.

ONE told customers this week it would stop accepting "bookings of the Vivo Y20 mobile phone and its non-DG lithium battery with immediate effect until further notice".One DG expert said there was "no such thing as a non-DG lithium battery", but small cells and batteries are not subject to all DG regulations. The Vivo phone has a lithium ion cell that is classed as "small".

There has been a spate of fires on containerships in recent years. Last month, containers on the Interasia Catalyst caught fire shortly after the vessel left Port Klang. It took some six days to extinguish the blaze. Three containers were reportedly full of sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate.

Samsung warned in March it might skip the launch of its next Galaxy Note phone due to shortages, while Apple has staggered its releases.