(With video) With difficulty, Spanish tugs have succeeded in towing the Dutch freighter Abis Calais that was in distress to the port of Ferrol. Adverse weather conditions posed a serious challenge to the rescue mission.
The 115 feet long Abis Calais, flying the Dutch flag, was en route between Leixoes (Portugal) and Hull (United Kingdom) carrying 5000 tons of wood pellets. On Monday morning 27 January, it sent out a distress call stating that the vessel was adrift due to a malfunction in the propeller.
Adverse Weather
Attempts to resolve the issue on their own failed after which the merchant ordered a commercial tug to assist. The Ria de Vigo tug arrived in the vicinity of the Abis Calais in the early morning, but adverse meteorological conditions in the area with power 6 westerly winds, veering northwest 7, and a 6 metres swell decreasing to 5 metres made it impossible to attach the tow lines.
Helicopter on Stand-by
Thereafter, Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) took over the rescue operation and sent in four tugs to assist. As rescue attempts continued to fail and the ship threatened to hit the coast northwest of the El Ferrol port, a helicopter was deployed to evacuate the crew of eight (of Dutch, Ukrainian and Filippine nationality) if necessary. A helicopter evacuation proved not to be necessary, however, as the tugs eventually did manage to attach tow lines and towed the ship to the port of Ferrol.
Below a video of the Abis Calais in trouble (by Salvamento Marítimo). The picture is a still from this video.
