Disabled Containership MOL Prestige Under Tow Off British Columbia

Updated: February 7, 2018 (Originally published February 6, 2018)

The disabled containership MOL Prestige is under tow back to Canada after suffering an engine room fire last week that left the ship adrift off British Columbia, Canada.

According to an update on Monday from the ship’s owner, an ocean tug arrived at the location of the disabled containership on February 3 and they have now commenced towing operations. The vessel is expected to be towed to a nearby a “North American port” with arrival anticipated for February 10, depending on weather conditions, according to the update. 

According to media reports which have not been independently confirmed by gCaptain, the MOL Prestige is under tow by the US-flagged tug Denise Foss and they have been cleared to anchor in Constance Bank Anchorage in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, British Columbia.

As gCaptain reported previously, the 293-meter MOL Prestige suffered an engine room fire on January 31, 2018, two days after it had departed the port of Vancouver for Tokyo, Japan. Five crew members were injured in the incident, including two who had to be medevaced with serious injuries.

The fire has since been extinguished and the extent of damage to the vessel is still being assessed.

Canadian authorities have been tracking the disabled vessel since February 1 while it was 207 nautical miles SW of Haida Gwaii. Meanwhile, the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier had been sent to monitor the situation.

The 71,902-ton MOL Prestige was built in 2006 and has a capacity of 6,350 TEU. It is managed by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. 

On Monday, the Canadian Armed Forces shared a video of the crew rescue:

Teamwork at its best: @RCAF_ARC aircraft from Comox rescued three injured people from a ship off the coast of BC, while @CCG_GCC , @Transport_GC and civilian ships in the area assisted the ship in distress #ThatOthersMayLive #SAR pic.twitter.com/GGQ2wCxumS

— CAF Operations (@CFOperations) February 5, 2018

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