Fire-Stricken Grande America Sinks off France

The fire-stricken Grande America sank in the afternoon hours of March 12 some 180 nautical miles west of the French coast, the Maritime Prefecture of Atlantic confirmed.

Image Courtesy: Marine Nationale

After it suffered a fire during the night of March 10, the 1997-built ship developed a worsening starboard list. The ro-ro container vessel subsequently capsized and sank in a water depth of around 4,600 meters.

All 26 crewmembers and one passenger were safely evacuated onto Royal Navy’s HMS Argyll on March 11.

The fire started in one of the containers loaded on the weather deck, spreading to other containers positioned close by, while the vessel was in the Bay of Biscay, sailing from Hamburg, Germany to Casablanca, Morocco.

Italian Grimaldi Group, the owner and operator of Grande America, earlier appointed the salvage company Ardent to provide assistance on the matter.

World Maritime News Staff