MS UND Adriyatik

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Career (Turkey)
The UND Adriyatik burning near Pula, Croatia
Name:	MS UND Adriyatik
Owner:	U.N Ro-Ro İşletmeleri A.Ş
Operator:	U.N Ro-Ro İşletmeleri A.Ş
Route:	Pendik (Istanbul), Turkey - Trieste, Italy.
Builder:	Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft
Laid down:	April 2, 2001
Launched:	June 29, 2001
In service:	September 1, 2001
Homeport:	Istanbul, Turkey
Identification:	IMO number 9215488
Fate:	Caught fire in the Adriatic Sea on February 6, 2008
Notes:	Sister ships: Netherlands MS Maersk Vlaardingen, MS Maersk Voyager, Turkey MS UND Atılım, MS UND Birlik and MS UND Ege.
General characteristics
Tonnage:	22.900
Displacement:	9,000 t (8,900 L/T/9,900 S/T)
Length:	193 m (630 ft)
Beam:	26.04 m (85.4 ft)
Draft:	7.4 m (24 ft)
Depth:	26 m (85 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × MAK 9M43
Speed:	21.5 kn (24.7 mph/39.8 km/h)
Capacity:	3214 Lane meters
Notes:	Source: ^[1]

The MS UND Adriyatik is a RO-RO freighter owned by the Turkish company U.N Ro-Ro İşletmeleri A.Ş.^[2] It went into service on September 1, 2001, after being built in the Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard in Flensburg, Germany. It was used for transporting goods between Pendik (Istanbul), Turkey and Trieste, Italy.^[3] UND Adriyatik caught fire on February 6, 2008 off the coast of Istria, Croatia, just outside of Croatian territorial waters.^[4]

[edit] Fire and salvaging operations timeline

Croatia's sea and transport ministry said the ship caught fire 13 nautical miles (24 km) west of the Adriatic Sea town of Rovinj on the early morning hours of February 6, 2008, just outside the Croatian territorial sea inside of the newly-established Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone. An SOS was launched at 4:04 local time.^[5] It said that the 193-metre (630 ft) long ship was sailing from Istanbul to Trieste and was carrying 200 trucks and nine tons of dangerous material, in addition to between 100 and 200 tons of ship fuel, causing fears of environmental damage. The ship's 22 crew members and nine passengers were rescued by the Greek ship Ikarus Palace that was sailing nearby and were on their way to Venice.^[4]

An official said Croatian fire-fighting planes and one tug boat arrived soon at the scene and were trying to extinguish the blaze. The planes were quickly withdrawn as they had no effect. As the fire started inside the ship, there was no way of extinguishing it from the outside. However, tug boats continued to pour water on the ship's hull, in an effort to lower its temperature and prevent its deformation.^[4]^[6]

Approximate position of the UND Adriyatik when she caught fire on February 6, 2008 and the day after, after being moved by sea currents

There were fears of an explosion if the fire was to reach the fuel tanks. Also, the water currents were pushing the ship towards the Croatian coast.^[7] Floating barrages were placed around the ship, but no oil leaked.^[8]

On the morning of February 7, the ship, still on fire, was standing some 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of the Brijuni islands, a national park. At that time Croatian officials still hoped that strong east winds would push the ship out of their territorial sea, but instead the ship approached Pula, the largest city on Istra peninsula. According to Croatian sources, the fire was under control and there was no further threat of an ecological disaster. Several maritime fire-fighting specialists from the Netherlands arrived on the scene (after long check-in procedure on a Pula airport, because airport official demanded papers for their special equipment) but were unable to board the ship.^[9] Those firefighters worked for Smit International and were hired by the ship's owning company and were known for their role in the salvaging operations of the Russian submarine Kursk.^[10]

The specialists from the Netherlands were at last able to board the ship on February 8, when they extinguished the blaze completely. Negotiations were underway as to which port to tow the ship.^[11] Several sources reported the most probable destination was the Italian port of Trieste though some media reported that the port authorities of Trieste have declined this option ^[12].

A panorama showing the UND Adriyatik and tug boats

The ship remained 5 mi off Pula until February 17, when Italian tugboats began pulling it towards Trieste. Reportedly, the Norwegian classification organisation Det Norske Veritas confirmed all security measures were in place to allow that.^[13] On February 19 it arrived in Trieste.^[14]