Fire started on board of the cable-ship Chamarel, while operating in cable laying off the coast of Namibia. The accident happened 2-3 nautical miles off the coast, but the crew reacted immidiately to change the course to deep waters. During the accident on board of the vessel were 56 crew members, who were not able to get control of the fire. All the crew members abandoned the cable-ship to a fishing vessel and were transported to the coast. The coast guard was informed about the fire on board late after the crew left the burning ship. The source of the fire on board of the cable-ship Chamarel is still unknown, but the port authorities started investigation of the fire. Most most probably the fire started from the engineering on board due to technical malfunction. The vessel was just returned in operation after planed repair and dry dock, where a lot of the electricity of board was maintained. The salvage operations started and two tugs are engaged with firefighting. The ship is drifting about 10 nautical miles off the shores of Namibia and tugs are trying to extinguish the fire on board, but the ship has slight starboard list and serious damages of the hull.
The cable-ship Chamarel (IMO: 7347718) has length of 135.00 m, beam of 18.00 m and maximum draft of 6.20 m. The vessel had summer deadweight of 5,900 DWT and gross tonnage of 5,924 GRT. The ship Chamarel is owned and operated by France Telecom Marine, which has important role in Orange’s submarine cable activity in the region.