Portuguese authorities received a distress call from the Maersk Elba, as the containership was disabled due to an engine room fire. The vessel is now safely anchored.
Specifically, the Portugal’s National Maritime Authority (Autoridade Marítima Nacional) informed that the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Lisboa), received an alert on December 26, according to which the Danish-flagged container ship was adrift without propulsion due to a fire in the engine room.
The crewmembers of the vessel successfully extinguished the fire without assistance, and no one was injured.
The National Maritime Authority and Portuguese Navy responded to the distress call and continue to monitor the vessel. Among the vessels on scene to provide assistance is one dispatched by the maritime police in the port of Lagos in southern Portugal as well as the Navy’s NRP Cassiopeia.
Moreover, Maersk responded to the incident, sending tug boats to for further assistance. The vessel was anchored approximately two nautical miles from the port of Sagres on the Portuguese Algarve coast.
Repairs to the vessel, which was built in 2011, are expected to be completed while it remains at anchor.
