Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Aug 01, 2012 2:03PM EDT
The fire-damaged container ship MSC Flaminia was towed to about 200 miles from the British coast while salvors waited for weather to improve enough to allow firefighters to reboard the ship.
Owner Reederei NSB said Tuesday that salvors reported the fire in cargo holds 4, 5 and 6 had been extinguished, but that smoke was visible above cargo hold 7 and that temperatures in that part of the ship were rising. The ship was still listing by 10 degrees, the company said.
The MSC Flaminia caught fire July 14 en route from Charleston to Antwerp and was abandoned in the mid-Atlantic. Two crewmembers died and three were injured. The ship has capacity of 6,732 20-foot-equivalent units.
Salvage tugs arrived within days to control the fire and tow the ship toward Britain. The ship was halted about 100 nautical miles from the coast to await clearance into a sheltered area but was towed farther out to sea when weather worsened, Reederei NSB said.
Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JosephBonney.
