The twenty crew members of the cargo ship “Guana”, in difficulty on Wednesday off the coast of Penmarc’h (Finistère), were evacuated and the tugboat “Abeille Bourbon” arrived near the ship late in the evening, we learned from the Atlantic maritime prefecture. Fourteen of the sailors from the cargo ship arrived around 11:00 p.m. at the Lanvéoc-Poulmic naval air base (BAN), on the Crozon peninsula, where they were transported by a BAN helicopter.
The six others boarded “Esperanza del Mar”, a Spanish ship which was cruising nearby and is heading towards Brest where it is expected in the middle of the day on Thursday, according to the same source, specifying that the sailors are of Turkish nationality. The “Abeille Bourbon” monitors the “Guana” during the night, all the lights of which have been lit to signal it to navigation. This Thursday morning, the crew of the “Abeille Bourdbon” must pass a trailer to the cargo ship and the convoy will head towards Brest where it should arrive at the end of the afternoon, it was specified.
Flying the Panamanian flag, the 150 m long cargo ship is approximately 100 nautical miles (180 km) from Penmarc’h. Following a machinery fire, the Guana’s engine “is out of service and (…) the boat is non-maneuverable”, while the crew “is unable to repair it by itself”, indicated at the end afternoon the maritime prefecture in a press release. The ship was heading to Turkey with a load of iron filings, according to the statement.