Extinguishing of fire on board tanker in Gulf of Finland completed

TALLINN – The work to put out the blaze that broke out in a cabin of a tanker in the Gulf of Finland before noon on Thursday has been successfully completed.

The maritime surveillance center of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board was alerted at 11:30 a.m. to a tanker being on fire 12 nautical miles to the north from Naissaar island, spokespeople for the Police and Border Guard Board told BNS. The maritime surveillance center immediately responded to the event located in the Estonian rescue area and sent the pollution response and rescue vessel Kindral Kurvits to the site.

Finnish rescue vessels likewise helped to resolve the situation.

After 2 p.m., the police announced that active work on board the vessel has ended, no more locations of fire were detected and there was no longer any danger.

Tago Trei, chief of operations at the Police and Border Guard Board, said that according to preliminary information, the fire broke out in one of the living spaces on the tanker headed from Russia to Turkey.

The people on board were able to put out the fire already before the arrival of assistance, preventing any harm to life and health.

A Finnish maritime firefighting team and two Finnish boats were also at the site as a back-up. Their task was to make sure there were no more locations of fire left on board. The crew of Kindral Kurvits ensured safety at the site and assisted the Finnish team.

Trei described cooperation in maritime rescue between Finland and Estonia as customary.

"We immediately included the Finns because they are geographically close to us and they have the appropriate firefighting unit," Trei said.