Grimaldi’s car carrier GRANDE EUROPA caught fire off the island of Palma Di Majorca, Spain on Wednesday 15th May according to the Spanish Sea Rescue Society (Salvamento Maritimo).
Additionally, Salvamento Maritimo, the team that helped extinguish the fire, stated via twitter that the 15 crew members that were onboard the vessel were promptly evacuated by helicopter.
The 1998 built ship suffered a fire approximately 25 miles south of Palma Di Majorca while on passage to Valencia, Spain from Salerno, Italy. Three vessels including the 2008 built tug/emergency response vessel BS-33 MARTA MATA who towed the ship to Palma Bay.
This incident follows a fire in March aboard the Grimaldi Lines roll-on/roll-off containership (ConRo) GRANDE AMERICA in the Bay of Biscay, which resulted in the ship’s sinking. All 27 crew members on board were able to abandon ship and later rescued by a Royal Navy ship. Grimaldi eventually confirmed that the fire started in a container loaded on the deck of the ship.
Images above are of GRANDE EUROPA entering Valletta, Malta back to 22nd August, 2012. Followed by the Salvamento Maritimo rescue tugs BS-21 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES and BS-32 CLARA COMPOAMOR.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
