MSC Flaminia saga drags on

   The owners of a Mediterranean Shipping Co.-operated vessel rocked by an explosion while on course in the Atlantic a month ago have yet to find a safe haven port in Europe.
   The German ship owner, Reederei NSB, also said efforts to fully extinguish the blaze aboard the vessel has again been hampered by inclement weather.
   “As weather conditions remained stable, firefighting experts onboard of MSC Flaminia continued to extinguish individual containers until yesterday evening,” the owner said in a statement Monday. “Currently, weather conditions worsened, forcing the suspension of the operations until the weather improves again.”
   Reederei said salvors have been able to somewhat correct the list of the 6,732–TEU vessel, which suffered a debilitating fire after an explosion in a container July 14 while en route from Charleston to Antwerp.
   “During the past days the salvage team was able to stabilize the vessel by pumping water from the cargo holds into the ballast water tanks,” the statement said. “By now, MSC Flaminia is listing by just 2.5 degrees. With this list, the vessel is stabilized to the extent that the entry into an emergency port is possible.”
   The ship is still in a waiting position roughly 240 nautical miles off the U.K. coast.
   “Despite ongoing talks with all involved authorities, a permission to enter a sheltered coastal area or an emergency port has not been granted yet,” Reederei said. – Eric Johnson