Blaze on Turkish Ship in Adriatic Sea Extinguished

Firefighters extinguished a blaze that erupted aboard a Turkish cargo ship off Croatia's coast three days ago and had raised fears of major pollution, AFP reported. A team of Dutch firefighters and their Croatian counterparts were aboard the ship to assess the situation and inspect the vessel.

The Und Adriyatik ship was being kept four miles away from Croatia's northern coast by tugboats.

According to reports, the Turkish company that owns the ship said the vessel was likely to be towed to the Italian Adriatic port of Trieste. The authorities said earlier the ship, which was transporting 200 trucks and nine tonnes of oil derivatives, would not be allowed to leave Croatian waters before it is completely cleaned up.

Reports said there was an estimated 10 tonnes of sea water mixed with oil derivatives in the ship's haul. The vessel had 31 people on board when it caught fire on Wednesday some 15 miles west of the tourist port of Rovinj. All nine passengers and 22 crew members were immediately rescued and transported on a Greek ship to the Italian port of Venice. Four of them suffered slight burns. The cause of the fire on the ship, which had been sailing from Istanbul to Trieste, was still unknown. source: AFP