Engine Room Fire aboard Maersk Elba
Boxship sends out distress call off the coast of Portugal.
The Maritime Executive reports about a fire in the engine room of the Maersk Elba. A distress call alert about this was received on December 26 by the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC, Lisboa). As a result of the fire, the vessel ended up going adrift sans propulsion.
Crew on board the vessel doused the flame on their own, without any exterior help. No injury to anyone on the ship has also been confirmed. Currently, the vessel is anchored safely, notwithstanding apprehensions about a possible storm brewing in the region.
Maersk Elba had left India on December 14. After navigating successfully past Gibraltar, the fiery incident onboard the vessel occurred just off southern Portugal. Her eventual destination was Felixstowe in England, where she was scheduled to arrive on December 30.
