DEME’s Cable Layer Hit by Fire

A fire broke out on board DEME’s cable layer Living Stone on Thursday afternoon, February 15, in Santurzi, Port of Bilbao, Spain.

Three workers of the port of Bilbao had to be treated for smoke inhalation

The fire was put under control at around 5 p.m.

The fire is being reported following the vessel’s removal from the financially-troubled La Naval shipyard for completion elsewhere.

In September 2017, Belgian DEME group, specializing in dredging and marine engineering, hired sub-contractors to seize the uncompleted cable laying and trenching vessel after several delays in delivery by the Spanish yard.

The attempt was unsuccessful, but the duo managed to agree on the vessel’s release shortly after.

The ship is being built for Tidewater, part of DEME Group, and needs a couple of more months of work to be completed.

The ship was supposed to be delivered in the second quarter of 2017 and head to its first project at the Merkur offshore wind farm in Germany, 45 km north of Borkum in the North Sea, for the installation of inter-array cables.

DEME is yet to reply to World Maritime News with a comment on the matter.

World Maritime News Staff