by creemaster » Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:07 pm
A lifeboat crew sprang into action after a fire on a ship sparked a mayday call. Dive-support vessel NOR DA VINCI made the
call shortly after 1.10pm on Monday when a fire broke out in the engine room. The 8,700-tonne ship had left Blyth harbour and
was five nautical miles from the mouth of the River Tyne. A crew from the Tynemouth RNLI took to the water to help, arriving
at the scene eight minutes later to find that all 23 crew members were safe and the flames had been put out, but smoke was
still billowing from a pipe near the engine room. Two of the ship’s seven engines had to be shut off and they dropped anchor to
investigate the cause of the blaze. After more than two hours floating near to the east of the Tyne piers, with the RNLI lifeboat
standing by, the crew of the Nor Da Vinci located the fault and were able to set sail again. Adrian Don, Tynemouth RNLI
spokesman, said: “Our volunteer crew members responded to the alert as fast as possible, not knowing how bad the situation
was. “This could have been a major incident with the crew of the Nord Da Vinci potentially having to abandon ship but
thankfully they brought the fire under control quickly with no harm coming to anyone. “The lifeboat stood by in case the fire
restarted or any of the ships crew were injured during the firefighting and investigations of the cause.”
From Masmond Maritime clippings, currently in the River Scheldt
Regards
Graham