The crew of the ship that had run ashore off the Reykjanes peninsula yesterday morning was rescued by an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter yesterday afternoon.
Water had flooded the holds of the 3,600 ton ship and its engines were dead. It is feared that oil might leak from the ship and damage the surrounding environment, so preparations for pumping oil out of the ship are being made. This is reported in all the main media.
Danish Coast Guard cruiser Triton was the first to arrive at the scene yesterday morning and eight crew members were sent out to the stranded ship on a life-raft. The raft overturned due to stormy weather and one of the sailors died. The seven survivors were rescued by the Icelandic Coast Guard.
The transport vessel Wilson Muuga belongs to the Cyprus branch of Icelandic shipping company Nesskip. It had come from the smelter in Grundartangi north of Reykjavík, where it had unloaded quartz. The crew is Russian.
To read yesterday’s story about the stranding, click here.
