LIRA

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Lira berthed in Olbia

The 'Lira' was pulled by tugs into the port of Olbia on Dec 22. The owner has asked to be allowed transfer the vessel to a Turkish shipyard, but the Maritime Directorate of the Gallurese city has detained the ship at the Brin pier, until the investigations have clarified the reasons for the abandonment of the ship by its crew. The investigators of the Olbia Coast Guard, coordinated by the maritime director Maurizio Trogu, verified that there were no known reasons to leave the ship and launch of a mayday call off the coast of Ustica in the night of Dec 17. The ship had drifted uncontrolled in international waters, posing serious risks for the safety of navigation and for the marine environment. The Coast Guard carried out several inspections on board and the crew members were interrogated. Italian report with photo: https://www.unionesarda.it/articolo/news-sardegna/gallura/2019/12/22/olbia-il-giallo-del-cargo-fantasma-le-prime-verifiche-nessuna-ava-136-967764.html

Two tugs on standby at abandoned ship

The 'Lira' was still adrift off the coast of Gallura on Dec 19 and now approaching the archipelago of La Maddalena, being about 20 miles east of Caprera. Four men went back on board after it was clear that there was no water ingress and the vessel so far stable. It was under control of the tug 'Koral', stationed in Golfo Aranci, sent to the site by the Olbia Harbor Master's Office on Dec 18, which was monitoring the situation continuously. Only on Dec 20 will it be decided which action to take to secure the unloaded vessel. On Dec 16 at 4.30 a.m. the ship had issued a mayday call in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The details of what happened on board were unknown. But the next day the master in agreement with the shipowner decided to abandon the ship, while he was in an area of the Palermo Captaincy. The rescue of the crew of nine took place with the collaboration of the Coast Guard. The 'Lira' then began to drift, dragged by the currents, in northwestern direction towards Sardinia and entered the control area of ​​the Olbia captaincy. The French tug 'Abeille Flandre' was also deployed to monitor the situation. The two tugs were tasked to take the ship to the nearest port. Italian report with photo: https://www.olbianova.it/notizie/mercantile-senza-equipaggio-in-balia-delle-onde-a-largo-della-maddalena/

Cargo ship abandoned off Ustica

The nine crew members of the 'Lira" were rescued on Dec 17, 2019, around 5 a.m. 90 miles north-west from the island of Ustica in vicinity 39 40 N 011 43 E, after they had radioed that they were abandoning the ship, which had sailed from Portovesme on Dec 12, due to damage to the hull. The rescue operation was coordinated by the Palermo Coast Guard with two patrol boats and two helicopters. In addition to the rescue units from Palermo and the two helicopters that took off from Cagliari and Catania, the ferry 'Eurocargo Napoli'(IMO:9108568), sailnig between Cagliari and Salerno, also diverted to the area after receiving the mayday call. The ferry launched lifeboats and took on board the crew members of the 'Lira'. The abandoned and unloaded ship was adrift 80 miles from Arbatax in Sardinia. The Coastguard was monitoring the situation. In the evening the vessel was sighted in vicinity 40 44 N 010 without an AIS signal or ships nearby.