Oil Tanker On Fire South of Norway - Update

This ship is now on fire...

A norwegian tanker "Fjord Champion" is on fire about 30 km off the coast of southern Norway. There are 38 people aboard the ship and rescue helicopters are on their way as well as other ships. "Fjord Champion" is 170 m long. The ship was en route from Liverpool, UK to Rostock, Germany.



Links:

Norwegian:
VG: Norskregistret skip i brann ved Mandal
TV2 Nettavisen: Tankskip i brann utenfor Kristiansand
Adresseavisen: Baat i brann - 38 passasjerer
Stavanger Aftenblad: Tankbaat med 38 ombord staar i brann
Aftenposten: Skip med 38 om bord brenner
Dagbladet: Norsk tankskip brenner

English:
Reuters AlertNet - Norway tanker ablaze, helicopters fly to aid crew

Developing...

[edit on 2006/4/23 by Hellmutt]

is it or will it leak?

Latest reports say the fire is now under control. And there were 28, not 38 people on board. The ship turned out to be empty (no cargo). At first they said there were lots of diesel on that ship.

This drama is over now, I guess.


At the same time this drama was ongoing, a fishingship in northern Norway was burning as well. The crew was evacuated less then 2 hours ago. The ship was totally engulfed in flames and is now lost. I guess no major spill would be expected from that ship, maybe some fish...

Aughh...

Drama is not over yet. The fire suddenly came out of control again. The ship is now asking for help...

They are evacuating the crew now.
The fire was put out but started again and is now out of control...

The ship is adrift and they say it might run ashore and create an environment disaster! Yes, that is what they say... The ship apparently has 800 tonns of fuel. Ships that are big enough to stop it from running ashore might not make it there in time. This could be bad, really bad...

VG: Kan treffe kysten i natt (in norwegian)




They say this could actually happen in a matter of minutes from now oh no, oh no you don´t... hold it, hold it right there!
TV2 Nettavisen: Brennende tanker mot skjaer (also in norwegian)

All of the crew has been evacuated now. The ship is engulfed in flames and there is heavy sea. Two small boats are trying to stop her, but they are not strong enough and she can´t be stopped...

[edit on 2006/4/23 by Hellmutt]

There is even a big passenger ferry on her way there now, to see if she could stop the drifting tanker somehow. This ferry is sailing between Norway and Denmark. Another ship is expected to the scene in about 45 minutes. They have mobilized units for cleaning up oil spill...

One of the two small boats have struck some underwater rock and is out of the game...

There has been explosions on the tanker and she is now listing...

She didn´t sink yet, but they say there is great danger of oil spill. It will not be a major oil spill but in worst case a local environmental disaster. They are now towing the boat out to deeper waters. New information reveal that the boat didn´t send the first distress-signal, a local radiostation did. The boat first sent out radiomessages about "navigation problems". The radiostation found out after about 10 minutes that the ship was actually fighting a fire. The crew was from India.

Photo: Alf Ove Hansen / SCANPIX


Photo: Kjartan Bjelland / Faedrelandsvennen


Photo: Alf Ove Hansen / SCANPIX


Photo: Kystverket


Photo: Alf Ove Hansen / SCANPIX


Photo: Alf Ove Hansen / SCANPIX

Source: Aftenposten

[edit on 2006/4/23 by Hellmutt]

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Keep us posted!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ship is still on fire. They are now towing her out to sea, away from land. They are making lots of fuzz about the fact that the ship never sent any distress signal. The local radiostation earlier mentioned sent out "Mayday, mayday" on their own after they found out that this ship was actually on fire. There is a "Don´t trust the GPS" warning in effect because of the "Battle Griffin" operation. This could explain their "navigation problems" but could not have started the fire.


Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum


Photo: TV2

[edit on 2006/4/23 by Hellmutt]

Now they have daylight after a long dark night. The fire is almost out and they use watercanons to cool her down. Within a few hours when she´s cooled down, they will check her out and determine if they can try to drag her in to a harbour. So far no oil spill has been detected. Let´s hope it stays that way...

They say 150 tonns of water per hour is pouring in. They are now fighting to keep her from sinking. She is sinking with 5 cm/hour.

Photo: Scanpix

[edit on 2006/4/23 by Hellmutt]

Fjord Champion didn´t sink. They avoided a disaster. 5th of April 2005 international legislation banned single hull oil tankers from European waters. Fjord Champion was a single hull tanker from 1974. I have failed to find anything about her whereabouts at the moment. I assume they are chopping her up some place, India maybe...