MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Almirante Storni cargo ship moored at Gothenburg while still on fire

After parts of the timber cargo on board started burning for yet unknown reasons

Sweden's port authority Sunday released a press statement reporting that the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Almirante Storni (named like current and former Argentine Navy units) had reached Gothenburg and cargo unloading was proceeding according to plan after the ship caught fire a week ago, thus prompting a rescue operation.

The Almirante Storni called at the port of Gothenburg Saturday, Dec. 11, while extinguishing and unloading the damaged goods was still going on simultaneously. Worked continued throughout Sunday, the authorities reported.

After parts of the timber cargo on board started burning for yet unknown reasons on Dec. 4, a major rescue operation has been underway. After six days of extinguishing work without the desired result, the Swedish Transport Agency decided on Friday that the ship would be taken into the port of Gothenburg.

At lunchtime on Saturday, the ship reached berth 615 in Skandiahamnen. The work of unloading cargo to better access to extinguishing the burning cargo was started as soon as the ship was moored.

The damaged goods were loaded from the ship into open containers on the quay and ferried by lorry to a nearby recycling center. Undamaged goods are placed on the quay and loaded from there to barges next to the quay.

”It is an impressive logistics operation that is going on right now, which is possible thanks to a very good collaboration between all parties involved,” said Elvir Dzanic, CEO of the Gothenburg Port Authority.

”We give the Rescue Service and the salvage company all the conditions they require to be able to carry out their work according to plan. At the same time, the port has been able to continue operating without any significant disruptions either on the nautical side, in the terminals or on the road or railway side,” Elvir Dzanic went on.

While the unloading was still in progress, the Rescue Service sprayed the cargo with water cannon from the quay, while reinforcements were on standby should anything unforeseen happened.

The Greater Gothenburg Rescue Service's assessment is that the work of accessing the hotbeds in the cargo may continue for a few days. The unloading of cargo is expected to last for about a week, according to the contracted salvage company T&T Salvage's assessment.

Continued collaboration with the Greater Gothenburg Rescue Service, the Gothenburg Port Authority, the Swedish Coast Guard, the Swedish Maritime Administration, the salvage company, the terminal operator APM Terminals and other relevant players in and around the city and port has worked well and all have contributed based on their respective assignments.

In another shipping crisis, two cargo vessels have collided Sunday in the Baltic Sea between the town of Ystad in southern Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. According to the Swedish Maritime Administration, one of the ships is floating upside down. “We do not know exactly how it happened”, Jonas Franzen, communications manager at the Swedish Maritime Administration told national broadcaster SVT. A major rescue operation was underway, with at least ten rescue boats from both Denmark and Sweden working at the scene. Several helicopters are also searching the area.

The Almirante Storni cargo ship is not to be mistaken with the ARA Storni OPV delivered last week to the Argentine Navy.

Read also: Argentine Defense Minister welcomes new French-built OPV