Grimaldi Con-Ro goes adrift in English Channel after fire ignites on board

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reports that a Con-Ro vessel operated by Italian shipping company Grimaldi suffered an onboard fire and then went adrift in the English Channel on Tuesday, February 18.

The 26,000DWT, Malta-registered Grande Brasile was southbound in the channel en route to the French port of Le Havre when a blaze ignited in one of its decks on the morning (local time) of Tuesday.

The crew informed UK authorities that the ship then suffered a loss of propulsion and steering, prompting them to send out a distress call.

The MCA instructed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to despatch rescue boats to render assistance to Grande Brasile, which later ended up some 15 nautical miles off Ramsgate.

The fire was eventually successfully extinguished with the aid of the vessel's onboard suppression system and all 28 of the crew are reported safe with no injuries.

The responding RNLI boats were then ordered to stand down as evacuation of the crew was no longer necessary. However, a Dutch tug and the French rescue vessel Abeille Normandie have remained in the area on standby, ready to respond should a fire reignite.