Cargo fire is expected to burn for days at Bulker outside Sweden
Swedish authorities report that they expect the cargo fire to burn for several days on the bulkhead Admiral Storni outside Gothenburg. Although the situation is stable at the site, they express concern about deteriorating weather conditions and the inability to reach the heart of the fire in the tightly packed cargo.
The Coast Guard’s two largest vessels, KBV 001 Poseidon and KBV 002 Triton, continue to pour large amounts of water over the part of the cargo where it is burning. Together, the vessels can spray almost 5,000 cubic meters of water per hour at full power. In addition, there are several tugboats rented by the ship’s owners who also spray water over the fire. However, the water only dampens the timber load to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the ship.
– It is worrying that the fire has not been extinguished, says Jonas Holmstrand who leads the Coast Guard’s effort at the same time as he states “but it has not spread and the ship’s condition is still good. Our efforts are therefore not without results, we take small steps forward while we plan and prepare for the situation to turn around and escalate. ”
Late yesterday and into Tuesday, December 7, the weather began to deteriorate at the site with southeasterly winds that increased to almost 48 km / h and temperatures fell to just below freezing. The forecast is that the weather will continue unchanged for at least the next two days.
The Coast Guard brings in additional personnel and equipment as they report that the difficult conditions are taking a heavy toll on the crew and operations. The increased winds have added additional stress to the crews and made it impossible for the helicopters to continue their flight support. However, they continue to use drones to locate the fire and monitor conditions at the front Admiral Storni.
The plan remains to fight the fire on site and the ship’s crew, coast guard and firefighters remain on board the ship. The Coast Guard believes that the ship is not in any immediate danger, even though the oil on board on Monday was prepared to be removed from the tanks and pumped over to another ship. The Coast Guard said that this was a precautionary measure to avoid an environmental threat if the oil leaked into the water.
The ship’s owner is still responsible for the ship and the Swedish Transport Agency and the Coast Guard are awaiting a wild plan from the owners. The goal is to extinguish the fire and move the ship to port, but before that the plan must address the condition of the ship, who will salvage it, how the ship will be able to leave the current location outside Gothenburg, and then where, in which port, it will be placed.