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Tanker on fire in the Baltic Sea

On March 19, 2019, short past 5 a.m. a fire broke out aboard the "NS Point" following an explosion in the engine room. The tanker was enroute from Primorsk to Vysotsk. A helicopter was sent to the site after the Swedish MRCC was alerted, while the Sea Rescue in Riga prepared an SAR helicopter. Latvia offered to send one of its Coastguard vessels to the position 80 nautical miles east of Kalmar, but the captain refused assistance. The fire had occurred in one of the three tankers main engines. The machine crew left the engine room, and the captain activated the CO2 plant from the bridge, which extinguished the fire. However, there was strong smoke development from the ship which ceased around 10.30 a.m. At noon the patrol boat "Triton - KBV 002" of the Swedish Coastguard also reached the position. The captain reported that all 22 crew members were unharmed and they were now assessing the damage and ventilating the interior. The ship berthed at the Gdanska Stocznia Remontowa in Gdansk for repairs of the fire damage on March 23 at 10.15 p.m. The ship left the yard on April 9 and headed to Muuga, ETA April 11.