All crew members were safely evacuated from the German-flagged oil and chemical tanker Annika after a fire broke out on the vessel on Friday.
The vessel caught alight in the Baltic Sea, prompting a large-scale maritime rescue and firefighting operation. The 73-metre-long tanker, carrying about 640 tonnes of oil, reportedly experienced an explosion while it was anchored northeast of Kühlungsborn, Germany, in the Bay of Mecklenburg.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Bremen, operated by the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked (DGzRS), coordinated the maritime rescue response.
“The sea rescue boat Wilma Sikorsk, currently stationed at the DGzRS station Kühlungsborn, rescued all seven crew members shortly after 10am,” DGzRS said in a statement.
The sea rescue cruiser Arkona from the DGzRS station in Warnemünde and the deep-sea salvage tug Baltic, chartered by the Federal Ministry of Transport, attended the scene to fight the fire. Additional vessels and helicopters also arrived at the scene to assist with the operation.
DGzRS said the sea rescuers had received the alarm by radio shortly after 9am, when black smoke was visible far off the coast.
As a precaution, authorities closed the surrounding sea area and airspace within a three nautical mile radius. Germany’s Federal Accident Command assumed overall operational management, closely monitoring the ship’s condition, which was assessed as stable.
However, by 4pm the fire was still burning in the tanker’s engine room and a decision was taken to continue fighting the fire at a berth on land. Rostock was chosen as the berth and the stricken vessel was towed there.
“The emergency command announced in the early hours of the morning that the fire on board had been extinguished after the tanker Annika had been towed to Rostock's overseas port. The ship's cargo was not affected by the fire. The emergency command terminated its overall operational management,” DGzRS said.
Initial assessments suggest the fire may have originated in the engine room, however, a warehouse for paints and varnishes was also considered as a possible source.
An oil boom has been placed around the Annika in the port to prevent potential water contamination, and divers have been deployed to assess the hull for damage.
