A burning Turkish cargo ship drifting towards Croatia’s Adriatic coast, threatening to pollute Istrian beaches, is at the moment located on about 5 nautical miles from Brijuni Islands and National Park.

According to Jutarnji.hr , Croatian daily, the fire is under control and it is expeced that Bura wind, predicted by weather forecast for Croatia, will push the ship further away from Croatian coast.

Update: 7 February 2008 - Minister says situation regarding Turkish ship is stable

The Croatian Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Božidar Kalmeta said that the situation was stable regarding the Turkish cargo ship that caught fire on the open sea off Istria on Wednesday.

Briefing the government at the start of its session on Thursday about this accident, Kalmeta said that all necessary steps, proposed for such cases, had been taken since the very moment the authorities were informed about the fire on the 193-metre-long ship, which was transporting 11 tonnes of hazardous cargo and 200 trucks from Istanbul to the Italian port of Trieste.

He said that five tugboats had been on the scene all the night to help extinguish fire and act in case of fuel leakage.

The owner of the ship also engaged the Dutch company Schmidt, specialized in fire extinguishment operations, and its specialists are expected to start putting fire on the ship later in the day.

Until the noon on Thursday the flame was contained, and white smoke was curling from the vessel.

Kalmeta said that the ship owner and the Croatian rescue services would agree on the location where the ship would be towed. (Hina)

Update: 17 February 2008 - Towing of burnt Turkish ship from Croatian waters to Trieste begins

The towing of the Turkish ship ‘Und Adriyatik’ from Croatian waters west of northern Adriatic city of Pula to the Italian port of Trieste began around 1300 hours on Sunday.

The 193-metre-long ship was being towed by two Italian and two Croatian tugboats and a Pula Port Authority boat. The vessel was expected to arrive in Trieste on Monday.

The towing was being electronically monitored by the Rijeka-based National Search and Rescue Centre and the Pula Port Authority.

The Turkish ship was sailing from Istanbul to Trieste when it caught fire early on the morning of 6 February 13 miles west of the northern Croatian Adriatic resort of Rovinj. All nine passengers and 22 crew members were rescued by a passing Greek ship and taken to Venice. The fire on the ship was put out on 9 February.

The vessel was transporting about 200 trucks and 11 tonnes of hazardous material. (Hina)