On the morning of November 7, the 17 meter long towboat Catharina 5 (MMSI: 244650935) caught fire while berthed on the Eemskanaal in Farmsum, Netherlands. The local fire brigade arrived on scene and found the smoke emitting from the vessel. The responders inspected the vessel and ventilated the towboat of smoke. No reports of injuries and damage to the Catharina 5 was minimal. No reports of pollution released.
On the early morning of November 6, the 33.5 meter long, 301 gt fishing vessel Armaven Tres (IMO: 9144641) caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kerry, Ireland some 25 miles west of the Blasket Islands. The blaze had broken out on the vessel’s engine room and the crew requested urgent assistance. The fire had disabled the Armaven Tres engine and the trawler had gone adrift.
The RNLI lifeboat out of Valentia was dispatched along with the patrol vessel LÉ James Joyce (IMO: 9614672) and a Coast Guard helicopter. The rescue operation took some 15 hours to extinguish the blaze. One crew on the Armaven Tres required medical treatment for smoke inhalation. The fishing vessel sustained significant damage to its engine and required to be later towed back to port of Castletownbere by a tug. No reports of pollution released.
On the early morning of November 6, the 36 meter long passenger ferry Gorinchem VIII (MMSI: 244750275) caught fire on the Merwede River while berthed at a quay in Gorkum, Netherlands. Just before its first voyage of the day, the ferry crew found smoke coming out of the front hatch of the vessel. The local fire brigade arrived on scene with three fire engines. Firefighters were quickly able to extinguish the fire and help ventilate the smoke afterwards. Reports state the fire was started by a short circuit in one of the vessel’s battery chargers.
Another ferry was brought into service while the Gorinchem VIII could be cleaned. The ferry was expected to be back into service later the same day. No reports of injuries or pollution released.