Ship Breaks Down During Heavy Weather in UK

On Thursday, December 6, the 50,681-gross ton Pure Car Carrier M/V Figaro lost power when its engine room CO2 system was released when a large wave apparently hit the vessel. According to a United Kingdom (UK) Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) press notice released soon after the ship lost power, "The weather conditions at the moment are south westerly gale force 8 with rough seas, a heavy swell and poor visibility." En route from Spain to Bristol, the United Kingdom, the Singapore-registered ship was carrying 2,600 cars and 30 crewmembers when the main engine stopped.

The Falmouth Coastguard was quickly contacted and dispatched the tug Anglian Princess to aid the Figaro. Wallenius Lines, the vessel's owner, also called on a commercial tug, the Suhaili, for aid. Additionally, the Falmouth Coastguard requested the Sennen Cove RNLI Lifeboat to launch and "to standby as required."

Because of the released CO2, engineers had to wait until the gas was ventilated before attempting to restart the engine. However, at 2200 hours GMT, onboard engineers "succeeded in restarting the main engine and the auxiliary engines are also running," according to a December 6 Wallenius Lines press statement. The press release went on to state, "The tug will escort FIGARO to the nearest port. The crew onboard the FIGARO are all ok. There is no damage to the vessel. There is no risk of pollution. The cargo is unharmed."

However, a spokesperson from the MCA press office told MarEx on Thursday, December 13, that the Figaro never arrived at any UK port, but continued to Belgium on its "own steam." A December 7 Wallenius Lines press release states, "Due to bad weather and no possibility to berth at Falmouth, the Captain has taken the decision to head to Zeebrugge [Belgium]." Ceclia Kolga of Wallenius Lines told MarEx on Thursday, that the Figaro arrived in Zeebrugge on Saturday, December 7, and is now "en route again."