A ship on fire in Antarctica led to 97 crew members being rescued by a Norwegian ship.
A Chinese factory fishing ship caught on fire on off the coast of Antarctica on Wednesday. The crew members had to abandon the Kai Xin as it burned. Luckily, Norwegian vessel Juvel, which is owned by Olympic Shipping AS, came to the rescue near Chile's Bernardo O'Higgins research base, the Brisbane Times reports.
Chilean officials said the ship was not in immediate danger of sinking. They said that nearby ships would be able to tow the burning ship away from the Antarctic coast if necessary.
Captain Juan Marcelo Villegas, maritime governor for Chile's portion of Antarctica, spoke to The Associated Press about the incident and said that Chile's navy would be able to send a tugboat from Punta Arenas to tow the ship to harbor if it could still be used.
The Chilean air force was preparing another flight on Thursday to check on the ship to see what condition it was in. Officials are not sure how much fuel the Kai Xin, which left port in Uruguay, was carrying.
"At the moment the weather conditions are pretty favourable. There's little wind and the ocean conditions are good, so, for the moment, there's no imminent risk of sinking," Captain Villegas said.
China's Skyfrost ship, which has a Panamanian flag, was approaching the region and said they would be able to take the rescued crew members on board.
According to environmental group, Greenpeace, the burning Chinese ship is one of 50 international vessels that are authorized to fish off the coast of Antarctica by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Greenpeace is against fishing in the area.
The commission will meet in Berlin in July to talk about possibly creating large Antarctic marine reserves.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
