The 43 foot fishing vessel Emily Lisa caught fire while fishing south of Halifax. The four crew on board were able to send out a mayday before abandoning ship. All four men escaped into a life raft. The Coast Guard disptached an aircraft and helicopter to the scene. The vessel Chempran Sea was first to reach the scene and rescued the crew. All four men were uninjured and were being transported to Sydney, Nova Scotia. The cause of the fire was not yet reported.
The 86 meter long tanker Eiltank 113 had sprung a leak while sailing down the Rhine River near St. Goar, Germany. The two crewmen on board noticed that the tanker had water ingress in the bow section. The crew requested assistance and local fire departments responded. Bilge pumps and generators were brought to the vessel and were able to get the flooding under control. The tanker’s cargo of ethylhexanol had not leaked. Reports state a small amount of oil pollution was released from the propulsion system. No one was injured.
The 40 metere fishing trawler Emmanuel was blown ashore in rough seas and high winds near De Bakke, Mossel Bay, South Africa. The Emmanuel contacted the National Sea Rescue Institue (NSRI) that the vessel had run aground 50 meters off shore and were preparing to abandon ship in a life raft. The NSRI responded to the scene with rescue craft and had local emergency services on stand-by. The NSRI attached a line to the Emmanuel on the shore-side in attempt to stabilize it. However, as the tide dropped, the trawler began to list over. The NSRI decided to evacuated the 12 crewmen. Taking 1 or 2 men at a time, the men were relayed from a rescue craft which rode the swells to land them ashore. The crewmen were then checked by awaiting EMS paramedics. No one was injured in the incident. One NSRI craft sustained some damage in the operation. A tugboat is on scene and will attempt to refloat the trawler on the next high tide. Authorities are conducting an investigation into the incident.
