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Swedish ship Sofia. Ship fire and crew evacuation. Earlier, there was a “powerful explosion”

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A “powerful explosion” occurred on board the Swedish ship Sofia before the fire. This information was provided by the director of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service. After the accident, the five-person crew was safely evacuated. However, the ship itself was not secured and – drifting – it reached the Polish shore. The shipowner wants to renovate the unit in a Polish shipyard.

The Swedish merchant ship Sofia is towed to the port of Gdyniabut it is not known whether and when he will be accepted there. The unit must undergo renovation after the accident that occurred on November 28.

– At around 9:20 p.m., we received information from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Denmark that the Sofia ship had transmitted a Mayday signal: the ship was on fire and sinking, and that the crew needed to be evacuated. The Danish side asked the Polish and Swedish sides for international help, says Sebastian Kluska, director of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service.

Sofia in the port of UstkaMariusz Jasłowski

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Helicopters were dispatched from Sweden and Poland. However, the Swedish ones arrived faster and picked up the five-person crew. They managed to evacuate, were uninjured and were sent back to Sweden. The Polish Navy helicopter from Darłowo participated in the rescue operation only as an assist.

The “ghost ship” has reached Polish waters

The accident occurred near the island of Bornholm – in the Danish SAR zone of responsibility.

– After picking up the crew, the Danish side did not protect the ship from drifting and after about seven hours we received information from VTS, i.e. the ship traffic surveillance service, that the ghost ship without a crew had entered our area of ​​responsibility of the SAR service – explains Kulska.

Sofia posed a risk of collision and environmental pollution – according to the director of MSPiR, there were over 20 tons of diesel oil on board. Therefore, the multi-purpose unit Kapitan Poinc and the Navy tug H-2 were sent to the site.

The ship SofiaSwedish Naval Service

– What was not reported, there was a powerful explosion on board this unit, which destroyed a quarter of the bow. This fire was the result of an explosion, it was a secondary factor. I don't know what was in this storeroom that caused the explosion and fire, Kluska added.

It is being towed to a Polish port, but there is no permit

The shipowner rented the German tug FairPlay-20, which took over towing the ship at 3.30 a.m. on Saturday, November 30.

– The shipowner wants to renovate the unit in a Polish shipyard. Nevertheless, he is acting inconsistently with the procedures and has not requested permission from the director of the Maritime Office to request entry to the port and to set the safety level for towing this vessel. I know that there is no permission to enter any Polish port – added Kluska.

The ship's position can be tracked on vesselfinder.com – you can see that it is currently sailing towards Gdańsk.

You can track the vessel's position at vesselfinder.comvesselfinder.com

Main photo source: Swedish Naval Service



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