Thursday, February 7, 2008

Croatia’s sea and transport ministry said the UND Adriyatik, a Turkish freight ship caught fire in the Adriatic Sea 13 nautical miles west of the town of Rovinj on the early morning hours of February 6, 2008. An SOS was launched at 4.04 local time. It said that the 193-metre long ship was sailing from Istanbul in Turkey to Trieste in Italy and was carrying 200 trucks and nine tons of dangerous material, in addition to between 100 and 200 tons of ship fuel, causing fears of environmental damage. An official said Croatian fire-fighting planes and ships were trying to extinguish the blaze. As the fire started inside the ship, there was no way of extinguishing it from the outside. The ship’s 22 crew members and nine passengers were rescued by the Greek ship Ikarus Palace that was sailing nearby and were on their way to Venice.

There were fears of an explosion if the fire was to reach the fuel tanks. Also, the water currents were pushing the ship towards the Croatian coast. However, reports said the fire was diminishing by the end of the day.