Coast Guard on the burning ship: "The shipping company has requested an emergency port"

The Coast Guard and the Swedish Transport Agency are waiting for a salvage plan for the ship Almirante Storni and hope that a plan will come on Friday.

Since last Saturday, the timber cargo on the ship, which is at anchor at Vinga outside Gothenburg, has been burning.

For several days, ships from a number of authorities and other actors have struggled with the extinguishing work.

According to the Coast Guard, it is required that the vessel is towed to the quay and that the timber on board is unloaded to overcome the fire.

The goal is for a towing to start no later than Saturday.

- We have many civilian tugs that have been involved from the beginning and in their world this is not a complicated operation.

What is complicated is that we have a fire on board that must be cooled at the same time, says Jonas Grevestad.

Do you see any risks?

- We will have a reduced cooling of the fire during transport, that is probably the risk I see.

Preparations are in progress

Although the decision is not official yet, the Port of Gothenburg writes in a press release that preparations for receiving the ship are underway at berth 615 in Skandiahamnen - a place with sufficient depth to be able to take Almirante Storni into port.

- It is not desirable to get a burning ship into a port, on the contrary, you want to get rid of it.

But under the circumstances, we do everything we can, says Erik Waller, Deputy Harbor Master of the Port of Gothenburg, and continues:

- We have been in contact with the rescuer, which includes taking care of the cargo that is aft of the hearth.

Then you will gradually extinguish the fire.

Staff changes make it easier

For several days, ships from a number of authorities and other actors have struggled with the extinguishing work and since Wednesday also two Norwegian ships, whose extra water capacity makes a difference and dampens the development of the fire.

Thanks to the relief from Norway, the Coast Guard has been able to perform both maintenance and staff changes.

- We have mapped the ship's heat signature with thermal cameras on aircraft and helicopters without seeing any deterioration.

More water together with calmer weather has probably had a calming effect the last 24 hours, says Erik Österlund, officer at the Coast Guard's command center.