On Saturday 14 January in the port of Palermo a fire broke out in the garage of the La Superba ferry of Grandi Navi Veloci. A large cloud of black smoke invaded the quay and the fire brigade teams immediately arrived on the spot and began operations to extinguish the blaze which continued for hours. At least 12 fire engines and 34 men were involved to deal with the flames and the black smoke given off in the hold.
At the time of the fire, there were over 180 passengers on board the vessel who were disembarked. According to initial information, there are no injuries, but I’m some intoxicated. Any damage to other cars in the hold must also be quantified.
The port companies Portitalia and Operation and port services of Palermo have made their workers and teams available to support the authorities and Gnv.
In the early hours of today, Sunday 15 January, the Fire Brigade announced that “the areas affected by the flames are being cooled, a necessary operation to allow the teams to inspect the interior of the ship. Ten fire brigade teams are at work”.
The ship La Superba of Grandi Navi Veloci had also been affected by a fire in 2009 while it was in the port of Genoa and 1,579 passengers were forced to abandon ship following a fire that broke out in the engine room.
The fire that broke out in the port of Palermo, with the ship still moored at the quay, made it possible for the fire brigade to intervene from land as well and obviously making it easier for passengers to evacuate the ferry.
The investigation of the case will start as soon as the flames are completely extinguished but in cases similar to this the fires have broken out in the past due to semi-trailers or refrigerated trucks loaded into the garage. At the moment it is not yet possible to know whether this time too the cause is attributable to this case but the damage to the ship is significant.
Pasqualino Monti, president of the Palermo Port System Authority, said on the fire that broke out on board the GNV ship: “Luckily there were no victims, thanks to the prompt intervention and the work of the fire brigade and the Captaincy ports to which my personal thanks go. This morning’s alarm has also ceased but for the emergency to be declared over, we will have to wait for the ship to cool down, which has reached very high temperatures. We are therefore waiting for the firefighters to complete their operations to declare, with certainty, the return to normality “.
Grandi Navi Veloci, the company that owns the ship La Superba, announced in a statement that it “immediately took action by bringing together the crisis unit to support the decisions of the commander, who from the very first moment acted in coordination with the competent authorities. The crisis unit, constantly connected through the operations centre, also coordinated all the other company functions to ensure maximum assistance to all passengers affected by the accident”.
“The immediate application of the intervention and evacuation rules – continues the communication – allowed for a rapid and orderly abandonment of the ship by passengers and crew not involved in rescue operations and fire extinguishing; this has ensured that everyone is safe and that no one has suffered direct consequences from the accident. The causes are still being investigated, both by the authorities and by the company; from the first evidence the fire would appear to have started from a vehicle in the upper garage at the bow”.
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