According to the Latvian navy, a cargo ship with dangerous cargo caught fire in the Baltic Sea and was brought ashore by tugs. A fire broke out on the ship (photo above) on Wednesday night, which could not be fought by the fire extinguishing system on board. The 15 crew members left the 168 meter long Escape in a lifeboat and were taken to safety.
The ship would have been on its way from the Lithuanian Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda to Riga. This is evident from the ship tracking service marinetraffic.com.
A fire broke out in the engine room
The fire broke out in the engine room and spread further. The Latvian Sea Rescue Coordination Center sent two tugs equipped with water tanks and foam generators to the cargo ship, which was heading for the west coast of the Gulf of Riga.
They would tow the Dutch-flagged ship, which was carrying unspecified dangerous cargo, to the port of the Latvian capital. They are accompanied by a patrol boat, a navy spokeswoman told Latvian news agency Leta.
There is hardly anything to see on the outside of the ship. “What we see are burn marks or traces of soot on the ship’s hull. From this we can conclude that the fire tried to escape through the ventilation shafts or through the chimneys, but luckily did not ignite the hull itself and died naturally,” said Peteris Subbota of the Sea Rescue Coordination Center on Latvian radio However, there is a risk that the ship will catch fire again.
Cargo ship under investigation
The cause of the fire is still unclear. There have been no injuries so far. According to the information, it is still unclear whether the Escape will dock in the harbor or anchor in the sea at the harbor entrance. The shipowners have sent a team of technical specialists to Latvia to inspect the damaged freighter.
According to a message from Latvian radio, the ship, which is about nine kilometers off the coast in the Baltic Sea, is said to be loaded with polymers and paint materials. A spokeswoman for the state environmental agency said there was no information on the environmental hazards associated with the ship fire. The authority has been informed of the incident and is monitoring developments.
Source: Krone
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