A ro-ro owned by Grimaldi Group caught fire last night while sailing off the coast of France.
The Italian owner said the 56,642-gt Grande America (built 1997) experienced a fire in one of the containers loaded on the weather deck overnight from 10 to 11 March.
The fire spread to other containers positioned close by while the ship was en route from Hamburg to Casablanca, about 260 kilometres off northwest France's Finistere.
At about 2:30 a.m., the master ordered the crew to abandon the vessel by life boat as it was feared that winds may cause the fire to expand farther across the ship.
The Royal Navy frigate HMS Argyll changed its heading to the area, picked up all 27 crew members on board and brought them to the French port city of Brest.
French authorities dispatched a maritime surveillance plane and, with Grimaldi's help, the 21,456-bhp firefighting tug Abielle Bourbon (built 2005) to the scene.
The Abeille's crew expects to tow the Grande America to a suitable port once the fire is extinguished.
Grimaldi said it would issue further statements as updated news is available.
