GRANDE BRASILE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Four tugs gathered at disabled vehicles carrier

On Eeb 19 also the tug 'Bear' (IMO: 9185932) sailed from the port of Rotterdam to the position of the disabled 'Grande Brasile', and on Feb 20 she joined the tugs 'Multratug 35' and 'Multratug 36', which had been sent from Flushing, and the 'Kamara', which had left Rotterdam on Feb 19, in pos. 51° 46' N 002° 16' E with the status "Restricted Movement". The emergency tug 'Abeille Normandie' returned to Boulogne-sur-Mer on Feb 20.

Fire flared up again - crew taken off

On Feb 19 also the tug 'Multratug 36' (IMO: 9985289), coming from Flushing, has joined the 'Grande Brasile', which was still adrift, as well as the 'Kamara' (IMO: 9322607) of Royal Boskalis, which was called from Rotterdam. The other two tugs remained on scene too. The salvors of Smit Salvage have established a towing connection to the ship in the Dover Strait, about 30 nautical miles off the port of Felixstowe. The fire seemed to be under control earlier, but has flared up again on Feb 18 at 4.25 p.m. The Ramsgate and Dover RNLI crews, a Coastguard helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft as well as a Belgium Coast Guard helicopter were called to the second fire. The 28 crew members have been taken off by the UK Coastguard. The crew evacuated onto the lifeboat of the 'Grande Brasile' at 10 p.m., about 12 nautical miles off Ramsgate, and were picked up by a tug that had been assisting. The crew were transferred from the tug onto the Ramsgate lifeboat and taken to Ramsgate where they were met by the South East Coast Ambulance Service. The crew was accounted for and no injuries have been reported. Paramedics checked them upon their arrival in the port, as they were exhausted after fire fighting for hours.The Deal, Folkestone, Langdon and Margate Coastguard Rescue Teams attended as well as Kent Fire and Rescue Service and UK Border Force. The focus was now on cooling the ship by spraying water against the hull, using the fire pumps of the salvage tugs, which wee directed from overhead by the Coast Guard fixed wing plane. Report with photos: https://kustwacht.nl/incident/internationale-reddingsactie-voor-brandend-schip-in-het-kanaal/

Fire off Ramsgate

A fire broke out on the 'Grande Brasilie', en route from Antwerp to Le Havre, with 28 crew members on board and loaded with cars, containers and assorted rolling cargo, while transiting the southwest-bound lane of the Dover Strait, off the Kent coast on Feb 18, 2025, at 9.35 a.m. GMT (Lat. 51.2762 Lng. 1.8117). The UK Coastguard and lifeboat crews were mobilized to the ship, 15 miles off the coast of Ramsgate. No injuries have been reported, The French tug 'Abeille Normandie' (IMO: 9442421) with firefighting capabilities and a Dutch fixed-wing aircraft assisting in the response. The fire was contained to one deck of the vessel and was brought under control by the release of CO2, The ship was left without main engine power or steering. The RNLI lifeboats from Dover and Ramsgate were called to the rescue at 10:05 a.m., but lifeboats have since been stood down and returned to shore. As of 7 p.m., the tug 'Multratug 35' (IMO: 9964039) attended the ship, wich was NUC in pos. 51° 20' N 001° 47' E, besides the 'Abeille Normandie'.