Cargo ship on fire off English coast

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Wednesday, March 14 10:56 AM SGT

Cargo ship on fire off English coast LONDON, March 14 (AFP) - Rescue crews were on Wednesday tackling a fire in the engine room of a tanker in the English Channel, coastguards said.

The Danish-registered 2,550-tonne Sofie Theresa, carrying a cargo of wax, caught fire at 10:30 pm (2230 GMT) on Tuesday, 18 miles (29 kilometres) off the coast of Beachy Head, southern England, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

The 13-man crew, on route from Rotterdam in Holland to a French port, was in no danger and there were no injuries reported, a spokesman said.

Two lifeboats and a firefighting tug were launched, while a coastguard helicopter circled the ship, using an infra-red camera to search for "hot-spots" on board, he added.

"The Sofie Theresa is disabled and has stopped in water, and is now operating on emergency power," said Gordon Wise, watch manager at Dover Coastguard in southeast England.

"Fortuitously her sister ship Ellen Theresa was passing and has stopped close by the Sofie Theresa and will lend whatever assistance is required."http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/afp/article.html?s=asia/headlines/010314/world/afp/Cargo_ship_on_fire_off_English_coast.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), March 14, 2001


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