Minister says situation regarding Turkish ship is stable

The Croatian Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Božidar Kalmeta said that the situation was stable regarding the Turkish cargo ship that caught fire on the open sea off Istria on Wednesday.

Briefing the government at the start of its session on Thursday about this accident, Kalmeta said that all necessary steps, proposed for such cases, had been taken since the very moment the authorities were informed about the fire on the 193-metre-long ship, which was transporting 11 tonnes of hazardous cargo and 200 trucks from Istanbul to the Italian port of Trieste.

He said that five tugboats had been on the scene all the night to help extinguish fire and act in case of fuel leakage.

The owner of the ship also engaged the Dutch company Schmidt, specialized in fire extinguishment operations, and its specialists are expected to start putting fire on the ship later in the day.

Until the noon on Thursday the flame was contained, and white smoke was curling from the vessel.

Kalmeta said that the ship owner and the Croatian rescue services would agree on the location where the ship would be towed. (Hina)

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