Extinguished tanker blaze in Rostock
A few kilometers away from Heiligendamm, a tanker named "Annika" went up in flames. Swiftly, rescue teams and firefighters arrived at the scene, working tirelessly for hours before successfully towing the vessel to the port of Rostock. In the wee hours of the morning, the rescue crews announced: Fire quelled.
The tanker, which ignited in the Baltic Sea off Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, had its flames extinguished within the Rostock port, as reported by the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies. The stranded tanker was pulled into the port after a near four-hour-long towing operation, just minutes before midnight. Approximately 120 personnel took part in the operation, as per the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies.
On Friday morning, the blaze erupted between Rostock-Warnemünde and Kühlungsborn, roughly at the height of Heiligendamm's Baltic Sea resort. The fire likely originated in the ship's paint room, according to the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies. The cause remains unknown. The black smoke was visible from the coast, roughly 4.5 kilometers away.
The fire prompted a major operation involving rescue teams, with three fire ships battling the flames from the outside for numerous hours. On Friday afternoon, firefighters entered the "Annika" to assess the situation. The tanker carried around 640 tons of oil unaffected by the fire, as earlier stated by the Schwerin Ministry of the Environment. However, an oil barrier was planned to surround the "Annika" within the harbor to prevent water pollution.
The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service safely rescued and transported the seven crew members to land. They were subsequently discharged from the hospital later that evening. Specialized care from the German Seafarers' Mission would be provided, with psychological assistance if necessary.
Concern over rising tanker traffic
The environmental organization WWF commended the swift actions of the rescue teams and firefighters. "The German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies has demonstrated its capabilities once again," said the head of the WWF Baltic Office in Stralsund, Finn Viehberg. "This is the response we've always anticipated: A densely interconnected maritime emergency network throughout the entire Baltic Sea," Viehberg added, but pointed out that this was sadly not the case everywhere where dangerous goods ships were in motion.
The Minister of the Environment for Schleswig-Holstein, Tobias Goldschmidt, of the Greens, addressed the growing threat of an oil catastrophe. "This burning tanker serves as a reminder of the significant risk to the marine environment posed by the increasing tanker traffic in the Baltic Sea." He expressed particular concern about the increase in old and underinsured Russian oil tankers, which make up the so-called shadow fleet. "The risk of an oil catastrophe is escalating," said Goldschmidt. "This oil would primarily impact our beaches, from Fehmarn to Eckernförde, as revealed by Greenpeace investigations in the Kadetrinne."
The Baltic Sea sees vast amounts of daily marine traffic, with approximately 2000 large ships on the move, including tankers carrying up to 100,000 tons of cargo. According to Viehberg, this incident off Heiligendamm serves as a "warning sign" of sorts, expressing concerns about the region's growing vulnerability to such incidents.
The tanker, now safely in the port of Rostock, will undergo a thorough inspection of its shipping documents to ensure compliance with safety regulations. To prevent any potential future incidents, stricter monitoring and regulation of tanker traffic in the Baltic Sea are necessary, as suggested by the Environmental Minister Tobias Goldschmidt.
