On Tuesday afternoon South African time a salvage tug was en route to the Maersk container ship drifting in the Atlantic Ocean, off Bermuda, since a fire broke out on the vessel last week.
Maersk said, in a statement on Monday, May 5, that the tug left Europe on April 4 but it will take just over a week to arrive at the vessel, Maersk Sana.
The 8 450 TEU Maersk Sana suffered an engine room explosion on April 28 while it was sailing about 250 nautical miles east of Bermuda en route from Newark to Singapore.
Three crew members were injured in the blast with one sustaining minor injuries treated on the vessel while two were evacuated to Bermuda.
One crew member was released after receiving treatment in Bermuda and the other was transferred, in a stable but critical condition, to a hospital in the US, Maersk said.
The Maersk Sana will be adrift for two weeks by the time a tug arrives to tow the vessel to safety.
“A towage vessel is expected to make contact with the Maersk Sana in a little over a week’s time,” Maersk said in the update.
The company said it is investigating the cause of the incident and it is in communication with customers about mitigating the impact on supply chains.
Maersk Sana was deployed as part of a service with the Gemini alliance in partnership with Hapag-Lloyd.
Built in 2004, the Singapore-flagged vessel is owned by AP Moller Singapore, according to the database Equasis.
Her last port state control inspection was by the US Coast Guard in the Port of Charleston on April 16 this year. No deficiencies were reported.
It is unclear at this stage what cargo the vessel is carrying or where she will be towed to safety.
