by Lloyd's List

19 February 2025 (Lloyd's List) - ALL 28 crew members from a Grimaldi ro-ro cargoship, which suffered a fire in the Dover Strait, have been evacuated safely from the ship after a second fire broke out on board the vessel.

The 56,000 gt Grande Brasile (IMO: 9198123) issued a mayday call at 0930 hrs UTC yesterday, February 18, while it was sailing in the southwest-bound lane of the Dover Strait bound for the port of Le Havre, France.

A fire is understood to have broken out on a vehicle deck, while the vessel later lost power and steering. The fire was extinguished following the deployment of CO2.

However, while the ship’s crew were cooling the cars to ensure there was no secondary flare up, a second fire started.

“At approximately 1625 hrs the crew informed the authorities that a second fire had broken out on another deck of the vessel.

“The 28 member crew was evacuated on to the vessel’s lifeboat at 2000 hrs, picked up by an assisting tug and taken to Ramsgate where it was met by local first aid services. All crew members are safe and no injuries have been reported,” said a Grimaldi spokesperson.

At present, tugboat operations are underway with their fire hoses being used for boundary cooling to contain and limit the fire. A Smit Salvage tug is expected to arrive on-site around midday to board the vessel. No fuel spill has been detected at sea, nor does the ship’s stability appear to be compromised.

“Grimaldi Deep Sea wishes to express its gratitude and acknowledge the swift and professional response of the British and Belgian authorities to this incident. At this time, the cause of the fire remains unknown, but the company will conduct a full investigation in close co-operation with all relevant authorities,” said Grimaldi.