Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Aug 16, 2012 9:27AM EDT
The fire-damaged container ship MSC Flaminia and its accompanying tugs have been moved to a position more than 400 nautical miles west of the English Channel to avoid rough weather, the ship’s owner said.
Owner Reederei NSB said it and Smit Salvage are still trying to obtain permission to tow the ship to a sheltered area or port.
The vessel’s owner said weather conditions were expected to deteriorate in the next few days, so the ship and its tugs set a northwesterly course at 4.5 knots to an area where less wave swell was expected.
“A significant impairment of the stability of MSC Flaminia due the expected wave height cannot be excluded and is observed apprehensively,” Reederei NSB said in an update on its Web site.
Reederei NSB has declared general average for the ship, meaning losses will be apportioned among all parties with cargo on the ship.
The MSC Flaminia, which has capacity of 6,732 20-foot-equivalent units, is chartered to Mediterranean Shipping Co. The ship caught fire July 14 en route from Charleston to Antwerp and was abandoned in the mid-Atlantic. Two crewmembers died, and three were injured.
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