Portuguese maritime authorities were scrambled to the aid of a container ship passing close to Sagres this morning after a fire broke out in the vessel’s machine room.
There were no injuries but the ship, flying under a Danish flag, was left without propulsion.
Two boats – a Lagos Maritime Police launch and the Portuguese Navy’s ‘NRP Cassiopeia’ – have since managed to help get the damaged ship secured at anchor.
The national maritime authority and the Navy continue to ‘accompany the situation’ roughly two nautical miles off the Sagres coast (3.7 kms) while repair work is due to go ahead on the damaged engines.
Lagos ports authority is coordinating the work in articulation with Maritime Search & Rescue, while a team to combat pollution of the sea has been activated and placed on standby.
A report in online Maritime Bulletin yesterday named the ship as MAERSK ELBA. It was passing the Algarve en route from Sri Lanka via Suez to Felixstowe UK.
