(Stockholm) TheAlmirante Storni, a freighter whose cargo of timber has been on fire for six days off the west coast of Sweden, will be towed to the port of Gothenburg in an attempt to bring the blaze under control, the Swedish coastguard announced on Friday .
Significant resources, including reinforcements from several countries including Norway, have been deployed since the start of the fire on Saturday at the front of this 177-meter-long ship with a crew of 17 people.
Several rescue ships are deployed and continuously water the freighter flying the Liberian flag, owned by the German shipowner NSC Holding.
The captain of the vessel has so far refused to abandon the ship, where coastguard firefighters also take turns.
The fire did not cause any injuries and the fire no longer spread, but the emergency services were unable to extinguish it.
The cargo ship has so far been anchored a few nautical miles off the coast of the Gothenburg archipelago, Sweden’s largest port. It is there that it must arrive Saturday to be docked, according to the coast guard.
The risk of pollution is considered minimal, the fire occurring far from tanks containing 600 tons of fuel, just like that of a shipwreck. Bad weather in the middle of the week had complicated rescue.