Baltic Sea: Oil tanker unloaded in Rostock, environmental disaster averted
Nils Leiterholt
· 14.10.2024
Update 14 October: After firefighters from Rostock and Kiel were brought on board the oil tanker to better assess the situation, it was decided to tow the ship from the scene of the accident to Rostock. Early on Saturday morning at 4.17 a.m., the CCME then reported that the oil tanker had reached its berth in Rostock harbour at around one o'clock in the morning and that the fire had subsequently been extinguished.
The sea rescuers from the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) were alerted by radio at around nine o'clock. The German-flagged oil tanker "Annika" reported a fire on board north-west of Kühlungsborn. Accordingly, the DGzRS rescuers set out to rescue the crew of the burning ship. During the rescue operation, the wind at the scene of the accident in the Baltic Sea was blowing from the west at five Beautfort. Shortly after ten o'clock, the crew of the rescue boat "Wilma Sikorski" based at the DGzRS station in Kühlungsborn was able to rescue the seven-man crew of the tanker and bring them ashore.
In the event of a fire on board:
The Federal Central Command for Maritime Emergencies has taken over overall command of the operation and is coordinating further measures to salvage the oil tanker, which according to initial reports is said to be carrying around 640 tonnes of oil. At short notice, the emergency tug "Baltic", the multi-purpose vessel "Arkona" and the rescue cruiser "Arkona" from the DGzRS station in Warnemünde were tasked with fighting the fire from the outside. In the meantime, it was decided to tow the oil tanker to Rostock and then extinguish it from shore at a berth.
In the meantime, emergency services from the Rostock and Kiel fire brigades had been on board the "Annika" to assess the situation. Navigators assessed the condition of the oil tanker as stable, which is why a towing connection was set up to tow the oil tanker into Rostock harbour.
The scene of the accident, where the fire broke out in the engine room of the stricken vessel "Annika", is located in the Mecklenburg Bay between Kühlungsborn and Warnemünde at a distance of around 2.5 nautical miles from the coast. The sea area and also the airspace had been closed within a radius of three nautical miles around the oil tanker.
About the oil tanker "Annika"
The oil and chemical tanker "Annika" sails under the German flag. It is 72.97 metres long and 11.68 metres wide. The fire is said to have broken out in the oil tanker's engine room.
