Six crew members rescued from Panama ship after fire  

Six crew members of the Panamanian ship Guana, which had to be assisted after suffering a fire while sailing off the coast of Brittany (northwest France), have been rescued by the Spanish ship Esperanza del Mar, which transported them Thursday to Brest.

The other 14 members of the Guana, which is being towed towards Brest, were evacuated by helicopter and taken to land.

The 150-meter-long Panamanian ship, which was carrying a load of iron filings in the direction of Turkey, launched an alert in the early hours of Wednesday when it was about 180 kilometers from Cape Penmarc’h, south of Brittany, by a fire in the engine room that could be controlled by the crew members, who were not injured.

However, the engines were unusable and as the sailors could not repair them and the weather conditions were difficult, the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture decided to send the assistance and rescue ship Abeille Bourbon, as well as a Falcon 50 aircraft.

The Esperanza del Mar, a ship of the Social Institute of the Navy that assists Spanish fishing vessels and was in the area, has been in charge of rescuing part of the crew with the help of a French H160-type helicopter.