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hidetheelephants
Original Poster
5,713 posts
63 months
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MCA press releaseMCA said: CONTAINER VESSEL ABANDONED MID ATLANTIC
Crew on board a container vessel were forced to abandon their ship after an explosion and subsequent fire in a cargo hold mid Atlantic.
Crew on board a container vessel were forced to abandon their ship after an explosion and subsequent fire in a cargo hold mid Atlantic.
At 10:07 Falmouth Coastguard received the relayed mayday broadcast from the German registered MSC Flaminia reporting that the crew on board had abandoned the vessel.
Falmouth Coastguard broadcast an alert to all vessels in the area and the nearest vessel which could provide assistance was the oil tanker DS Crown which immediately changed course to intercept the MSC Flaminia. Six other merchant vessels also proceeded to the location to help with the search and rescue operation but were more than six hours from the location. Rescue helicopters do not have the endurance required to attend an incident of this nature because the vessel is approximately 1,000 miles from land mid way between the UK and Canada.
DS Crown arrived on scene to confirm that the MSC Flaminia was still burning and recovered 24 people from a lifeboat and a liferaft. Four crew had suffered injuries. The injured crew have been transferred to the vessel MSC Stella which will take them to the Azores. One crew member is missing.
The MSC Flaminia is a large container vessel of 75,590 gross tonnage and had 25 people on board. Crew of the MSC Flaminia include German, Polish and Filipino nationals. Weather conditions on scene were winds force 3-4 with a one metre swell.
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Jackleman
974 posts
36 months
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SpeedYellow
2,462 posts
97 months
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There will already be a race of salvage companies trying to be the first one on scene to tow whatever is left in, a lot of money to be made. Hope the find the missing crew member alive.
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A lex
8,936 posts
103 months
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Ouch, thats a bloody big boat to catch fire and subsequently abandon..... During my (limited) time in the merchant navy I worked for Shell on the gas boats and fire at sea always scared the living s  t out of me. I always remember the fire fighting course to be bloody hot, hard work.
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Elroy Blue
5,728 posts
62 months
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Jackleman
974 posts
36 months
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Elroy Blue said: Great, that is just what we need, more f'ing submerged containers floating around the Atlantic.
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Athlon
2,383 posts
76 months
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The burning ship pics are not the one mentioned in the atricle, that was one that burned in '96
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Fishtigua
3,088 posts
65 months
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There is a French Tug that could get there quite quickly, not that far away in Cherbourg. The Abielle Liberte. 
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The Boy Lard
408 posts
93 months
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MSC also responsible for the Rena which found a reef and got stuck here off NZ.
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hidetheelephants
Original Poster
5,713 posts
63 months
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The Boy Lard said: MSC also responsible for the Rena which found a reef and got stuck here off NZ. It's not very relevant to this situation, but MSC don't manage the running of the ship, they just own it; it appears to be managed by a german ship management co. called NSB.
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Fishtigua
3,088 posts
65 months
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davepoth
20,187 posts
69 months
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MSC were also the shipping line that ran a ship (The Napoli) aground off Devon. In the export industry, the only time you'll ever put a container aboard an MSC vessel is if nobody else ships to a particular port. They are a bit s t, putting it mildly. http://www.mscgva.ch/news/msc_flaminia.htmlSo this has been going on for more than a week. Sounds like she was well on fire though.
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Nickyboy
3,428 posts
104 months
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I'd say she's gonna sink. The amount of water needed to extinguish the fire will be far too much to keep the ship stable especially if the seas get rough.
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Huntsman
3,612 posts
120 months
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Nickyboy said: I'd say she's gonna sink. The amount of water needed to extinguish the fire will be far too much to keep the ship stable especially if the seas get rough. And with all that heat the integrity of the steel must be questioned?
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davepoth
20,187 posts
69 months
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Huntsman said: Nickyboy said: I'd say she's gonna sink. The amount of water needed to extinguish the fire will be far too much to keep the ship stable especially if the seas get rough. And with all that heat the integrity of the steel must be questioned? She's been afloat after the fire for more than a week, I think they'll get her beached somewhere. Almost certainly scrap though. It looks like it was actually an explosion rather than a fire, confined to one of the holds, but nobody has been aboard to check.
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hidetheelephants
Original Poster
5,713 posts
63 months
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linkyNSB press release said: Buxtehude, July 23 2012
On Friday evening, firefighting tugboat FAIRMOUNT EXPEDITION (Fairmount Marine) has begun to tow MSC FLAMINIA toward Europe. Simultaneously, firefighting tugboat ANGLIAN SOVEREIGN (L.P. Knight) continues to cool the fire. The tugboat CARLO MAGNO (Augustea S.A.) accompanies the group on standby.
MSC FLAMINIA’s own firefighting system is especially cooling the area in front of the superstructure.
Due to the extinguishing water and damaged cargo, MSC FLAMINIA is listing by 10 degrees.
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Huntsman
3,612 posts
120 months
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davepoth said: She's been afloat after the fire for more than a week, I think they'll get her beached somewhere. Almost certainly scrap though. It looks like it was actually an explosion rather than a fire, confined to one of the holds, but nobody has been aboard to check. I bet 50p she doesn't survive.
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uncinqsix
2,003 posts
80 months
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davepoth said: MSC were also the shipping line that ran a ship (The Napoli) aground off Devon. In the export industry, the only time you'll ever put a container aboard an MSC vessel is if nobody else ships to a particular port. They are a bit s t, putting it mildly. http://www.mscgva.ch/news/msc_flaminia.htmlSo this has been going on for more than a week. Sounds like she was well on fire though. The Rena was running under contract to MSC as well, run aground off the coast of NZ last year.
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pablo
10,403 posts
143 months
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Huntsman said: I bet 50p she doesn't survive. i'll take that bet!
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Nickyboy
3,428 posts
104 months
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davepoth said: She's been afloat after the fire for more than a week, I think they'll get her beached somewhere. Almost certainly scrap though. It looks like it was actually an explosion rather than a fire, confined to one of the holds, but nobody has been aboard to check. As shes in the middle of the Atlantic beaching points are in short supply and i doubt any country will allow her to be beached after past environmental problems with container ships breaking up.
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