The Netherlands Coast Guard Centre received a report from the container ship Victoria L that they had had an engine room fire on Wednesday, 9 April. It was extinguished by the ship’s fire extinguishing system, but fire broke out a second time. The Coast Guard then started the rescue operation.
The ship with nineteen crew members was sailing 56 kilometres west of Scheveningen on the North Sea.
The Coast Guard alerted several units to respond to the fire: the emergency rescue tug Multraship Protector, two rescue boats of the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), two Coast Guard helicopters, the Coast Guard aircraft and from Rijkswaterstaat the oil-fighting vessel Arca. The Coast Guard crisis team also came on station in Den Helder.
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Fire-fighting assistance
The captain of the Victoria L asked for fire-fighting assistance. Therefore, the Coast Guard alerted the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG-NL). This is a special firefighting team for firefighting at sea.
The Coast Guard aircraft monitored the situation from the air and reported that it did not see any blazing flames or smoke at the ship. A Coast Guard helicopter brought MIRG-NL’s special fire team on board. After they conducted reconnaissance, the fire appeared to be confined to the engine room. After they entered it, the fire appeared to be out.
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Under control
After additional checks, the situation was found to be under control and it was safe for the crew to remain on board. The fire team disembarked and the Coast Guard scaled down. The emergency tug Multraship Protector remains near the container ship in case the situation changes. The ship is expected to sail to Rotterdam on its own, although MarineTraffic shows the vessel is currently still at anchor on the North Sea.
The 161-metre-long Victoria L sails under the flag of Liberia. It was en route to Rotterdam from Hamburg Germany.
Pictures by the Netherlands Coast Guard.
