Grimaldi’s Grande Brasile caught fire, while it was sailing towards the Dover Strait, bound for Le Havre, France. The alarm went off yesterday morning, due to a fire that was immediately put out by crew members, but which led the ship to lose engine power.
A second fire broke out a few hours later, on another deck of the vessel, just as the crew was busy cooling the cars to ensure there were no secondary fires.
The 28 crew members were evacuated on the ship’s lifeboat at 8pm, picked up by a tug sent to assist them and taken to Ramsgate where they were met by local first aid services. All crew members are safe and well. No casualties have been reported.
Tug operations are currently underway with fire hoses being used to contain and limit the fire. A tug from Smit Salvage is expected to arrive on site around midday to board the ship. No fuel spills have been detected at sea, nor does the stability of the ship appear to be compromised.
“Grimaldi Deep Sea wishes to express its gratitude and acknowledge the swift and professional response of the British and Belgian authorities to this incident. At this time, the cause of the fire remains unknown, but the Company will conduct a full investigation in close cooperation with all relevant authorities,” said Grimaldi.
Translation by Giles Foster