Distress at sea: Burning motorboat sinks off Funen

At 10.34 a.m. on Thursday, the Danish Sea Rescue Service (DSRS) received a distress call about a fire in the engine room of a boat. The boat concerned was two nautical miles off Kerteminde. A SAR operation was then initiated, and eight minutes later four rescuers set off from the marina to the scene. On site, they noticed heavy smoke in the engine room and wheelhouse. An attempt to extinguish the fire with a hand-held fire extinguisher failed due to the dense and toxic smoke.

The crew, consisting of two people and two dogs, were successfully rescued. They were taken to Kerteminde, where they were offered psychological support. In coordination with the Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre (JRCC), the rescue team returned to the burning boat to secure it and prevent it from drifting away. An anchor from the lifeboat was deployed for this purpose.

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The fire could not be extinguished and the motorboat sank at around 13:00. A requested oil recovery vessel took over surveillance of the scene at 14:00. The uninjured crew members were later picked up by their families.

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