Australia is racing to send a rescue vessel to help its main Antarctic supply ship after it caught fire and was left to battle approaching storms with only one engine.
The fire started on the 21,000 tonne MPV Everest on Monday, 1,700 miles south of the Australian mainland, as it returned from a supply run to the country’s Davis and Mawson research stations in Antarctica.
Dramatic footage released today showed towering flames across the deck of the 460ft-long vessel after a fire engulfed the engine room and destroyed large motorised dinghies.
None of the 109 crew and Antarctic expeditioners on board were injured. But with one of the ship’s two engines destroyed and fierce storms approaching, the captain decided to head for Fremantle in Western Australia rather than the more distant home port of Hobart in Tasmania.
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) said today it is preparing to send a support vessel to accompany the limping ship back home.
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“The Everest is not in distress, however, we think it would be prudent to send a second vessel,” said Charlton Clark, AAD general manager.
“We are mindful that for the people on board … it has been a very stressful situation and having a vessel on the horizon . . . will hopefully provide some reassurance to them.
“This is a very serious incident. The fire engulfed the engine room and it also destroyed two inflatable vessels on the deck of the ship.”
The engine room blaze sent flames through the deck of the Dutch ship, which is on charter ahead of the arrival of Australia’s new icebreaker, the 25,500 tonne Nuyina.
Last night, the ship’s remaining engine was stopped for an hour for maintenance, according to The Australian newspaper.
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During the shutdown, waves were at least as high as 4m, leading to what the crew described as “a bit of rock and roll”.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is starting an investigation into the fire.
Clark said it would take “some days” to organise a support vessel to reach the Everest.
The Maritime Union of Australia expressed concern because it was the second fire to occur on the vessel this year.
According to the website of the ship’s Dutch owners it was launched in 2017 and was designed “to work safely where other vessels have to stop.”