A fishing boat with a crew of 43 people on board, caught fire early this morning. The boat, the Amaltal Columbia, was 70 km off the coast of Christchurch at the time. Fire broke out in the fish meal hold about 5.20am. The captain sent out a mayday call at 5.40 am. The crew tried to fight the fire for the next two hours but they had to give up because of the smoke. They got into life rafts. It was dark, windy, very cold and the sea was rough with three metre high waves.
Two other fishing boats, which belonged to different fishing companies, came to help. A New Zealand Air Force plane and helicopter also came. The fishing boats picked up the people in the life rafts. One boat arrived back in Lyttelton Harbour near Christchurch early this afternoon with most of the crew. The other boat is towing the Amaltal Columbia back to Lyttelton and will arrive some time during the night.
The Amaltal Columbia belongs to the Talley fish company in Nelson. It is 64m long and has a fish factory on board. It can freeze fish. It also makes fish meal with the fish bones and other waste from the fish. The boat left Nelson three weeks ago. The plan was for six weeks at sea. It has about 200,000 litres of fuel on board but the hold is sealed off, with no oxygen, so the fire cannot spread.
Idioms
people / factory / fuel on board
fire broke out
sent out a mayday call
fight the fire
Vocabulary
fish meal – waste from the fish is cooked. It is used for fertilizer or for feeding chickens.
hold (n) – place for storage below the deck of the boat
crew – people who work on a boat
tow – pull, using a rope
seal off – cover