AMALTAL COLUMBIA

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Four-year investigation fails to find cause of ship fire off Canterbury coast

A four year inquiry into a fire that ripped through a ship off the Canterbury coast, forcing dozens of crew members into lifeboats, has failed to establish "with any certainty" how it started. On Thursday, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released a report into the blaze, which turned the fishing factory freezer trawler Amaltal Columbia into "a fireball from the bow to the stern" in 2012. The 41 crew on board were ordered to abandon ship, 85 kilometres northeast of the Lyttelton heads, after exhausting their air tanks battling the inferno. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91007882/fouryear-investigation-fails-to-find-cause-of-ship-fire-off-canterbury-coast

Black ship in Nelson

The "Amaltal Columbia" has arrived at Port Nelson being towed from Lyttelton by the smaller "Amaltal Mariner". The tow began at 2 p.m. on Sep 15 and has gone smoothly, with the two ships arriving in Tasman Bay on Sep 17 at about 5 a.m. to await the high tide before entering the port. The casualty will tie up at the Amaltal wharf just to the north of the marina. The "Amaltal Columbia" will be classed as a ‘black ship’ for at least four days while experts made sure that there was no further risk of fire or any other danger on board. Workers then will spend a week stripping the wreck out and then Talley's will be figuring out the rebuild. It was hoped the "Amaltal Columbia" could be back fishing within four or five months, and that the two crews would retain their jobs. Report with photo: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7684577/Black-ship-back-home-under-tow

Fish factory under tow to Nelson

On Sep 15 evening the "Amaltal Coolumbia" was heading to its home port of Nelson under tow, a trip that was expected to take about 48 hours. Another company trawler, the "Amaltal Mariner", arrived in Lyttelton on Sep 15 to tow the casualty to her home port of Nelson. Harbour tugs towed the "Amaltal Columbia" out from the port just after 1 p.m., and the tow was connected by 2.30 p.m. Talley's Nelson will spend the next week stripping out the damaged areas of the ship and assessing what repairs are needed. Talley's has six other vessels in the fleet which can help pick up the slack while the work is carried out, and some of the crew have already been redeployed.