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Ship in the Bay of Riga (symbol image)
Photo: Santiago Urquijo/Moment RF/Getty Images
A freighter caught fire in the Baltic Sea and is now drifting towards the Latvian coast.
This is reported by the Latvian Navy.
A fire broke out on the ship on Wednesday night that could not be extinguished by the fire extinguishing system on board.
The crew members left the 168-meter-long "Escape" in a lifeboat and were brought to safety, the Navy said.
The ship is said to have been on the way from the Lithuanian Baltic Sea port of Klaipėda to Riga.
This was shown by the ship tracking service »marinetraffic.com«.
According to the Navy, the ship is transporting unspecified "dangerous cargo".
According to a report by the Latvian radio, it is said to be polymers and paint materials.
No open flames visible
The fire broke out in the engine room and continued to spread, it said.
The Latvian Sea Rescue Coordination Center has dispatched two tugboats equipped with water tanks and foam generators to the freighter, which is drifting towards the west coast of the Gulf of Riga.
A Navy patrol boat is with the freighter.
According to the information, there were no open flames on board.
According to the Latvian radio, there is no evidence that the containers with the cargo are on fire.
A spokeswoman for the state environmental agency said there was no information on environmental hazards related to the ship fire.
The authority was informed about the incident and is monitoring developments.
bbr/dpa
