French rescue operations for drifting cargo still unsuccessful

The Modern Express cargo ship was still adrift in the Bay of Biscay on Saturday (January 30) some 200 kilometres off the Gironde coast, French maritime authorities said, after attempts to tow the freighter on Friday (January 29) failed.

Despite the extreme 50-degree incline of the ship as well as difficult sea conditions, a specialised team was winched onto the ship and a Spanish tug tried to tow the cargo, but was unsuccessful because of bad weather, the maritime prefecture of the Atlantic said.

The Modern Express was transporting 3,600 tonnes of wood from Owendo in Gabon to France’s northern port of Le Havre, but listed heavily to one side earlier this week in rough seas and has not recovered an upright position, leading to the evacuation of the 22 crew members by helicopter.

French media reports said the problem may be due to its cargo having shifted.

There was no imminent risk of the ship reaching the coast and no sign that water had entered the vessel or that fuel had leaked out, a spokesman for the French Atlantic coast authority told Reuters on Friday, adding that the French navy had sent a specialised anti-pollution ship as a precaution to join French frigate ‘Primauguet’ and three tugboats already at the scene.