A fire broke out on the cargo ship Grande Brasile after it left Antwerp on Tuesday, as reported by port magazine Flows on Wednesday and confirmed by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
The Grande Brasile is owned by the Italian Grimaldi Group and sails under the Maltese flag. The ship is currently adrift in the Channel, but no injuries were reported during or after the fire. Its engine is reportedly not functioning.
Nearly thirty crew members had to be rescued on Tuesday during an operation coordinated by the MCA. The coastguard received two emergency calls about the fire throughout the day.
Around 22:00 on Tuesday evening, the crew was evacuated using the ship’s own lifeboat, approximately twelve nautical miles south of Ramsgate. They were later picked up by a tugboat providing assistance.
Helicopters, including one from the Belgian coastguard, and an aircraft were deployed in the operation, with help from the French and Dutch as well.
Salvage of the ship is the responsibility of the owner in coordination with a British organisation that handles such matters. Flows notes that this is the sixth fire incident on a Grimaldi ship since 2018, as reported by the Chinese news platform Xinde Marine News.
