MV Almirante Storni Arrives at Dock With Timber Fire Under Control

The Swedish Coast Guard has stood down the federal response to the fire on board the MV Almirante Storni near Gothenburg, Sweden after a week of firefighting.

After a week burning at anchor near the island of Vinga, the ship arrived at a berth in Gothenburg under its own power on Saturday morning with the fire mostly controlled but thermal imaging still showing some hot spots. As of Monday, the Greater Gothenburg Rescue Service has taken over the response.

“Overall, it has been a successful effort. After a very strained and vulnerable situation, Almirante Storni has received and reached an emergency port and the difficult situation we have had for many days is now over,” said Mattias Heneborn, the Coast Guard’s task leader.

The fire on board the Almirante Storni was reported last Saturday, December 6th, in the ship’s cargo of timber, prompting a response that grew to involve two Swedish Coast Guard ships, a Norwegian Coast Guard ship, the AHTS Loke Viking, and several small tugs. Weather complicated the effort earlier last week.

The Swedish Coast Guard called the response one of the largest in modern times.

All crew members remained on board Almirante Storni throughout the week. The ship itself, with about 600 tonnes fuel on board, has remained stable and operational, with the fire contained to the cargo and located towards the forward portion of the ship. No injuries have been reported.

Meanwhile, a preliminary investigation led by local prosecutors is looking into the cause of the blaze.

“We have conducted coastguard operations along the entire coast of Sweden during this period, but of course redistributed large resources to Gothenburg. For everyone at the Coast Guard who worked with the operation, there is now a recovery and a return to regular operations,” said Heneborn. “For us, the result is good. Now we focus the work on documenting and managing the experiences of the effort,” says Mattias Heneborn.

But with the effort now stood down, the Swedish Coast Guard is already busy responding to a deadly collision involving a barge and a cargo ship. That story is here.

More photos from the Almirante Storni fire are below:

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