A German tanker burns in the Baltic Sea
On Friday, a fire broke out on the German-flagged oil and chemical tanker Arnika in the Baltic Sea.
The 73-meter-long ship, carrying approximately 640 tons of oil, caught fire northeast of Kuhlungsborn, Germany, sparking a large-scale rescue and firefighting operation.
The Bremen Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC), managed by the German Wreck Rescue Association (DGzRS), coordinated the initial response.
The rescue vessel Wilma Sikorsky safely evacuated all seven crew members just after 10 a.m. local time.
Multiple assets were deployed to fight the fire, including the rescue cruiser ARKONA, the offshore rescue tug Baltic and the multipurpose vessel Arkona. Despite the ongoing firefighting efforts, the engine room remained on fire throughout the day.
At 3:28 p.m., the authorities towed the ship to Rostock to continue the firefighting operations. “For operational reasons, the General Operations Control has decided to continue the firefighting operation at the Rostock terminal,” a company spokesperson said.
The incident occurred in Mecklenburg Bay, about 4.5 kilometers from the coast. As a precaution, the sea area within a radius of 3 nautical miles and the surrounding airspace have been closed.
The German Federal Incident Command has taken over the overall operational management of the additional measures. The ship’s condition is being closely monitored and is currently assessed as stable.
