In the early afternoon of Monday, May 9, the operations room of the Civitavecchia Coast Guard received a "Mayday" call via radio from the commander of the bunkering/fuel barge Punta Azzurra, positioned alongside the Celebrity Cruises' ship Celebrity Constellation during the refueling phase.
Punta Azzurra is owned by the Maritime Bunker company, a joint venture founded in 2020 and owned by the Cafimar and Maxcom groups.
The alarm was raised because a fire was detected in the engine room of the barge. Rescue operations started immediately, coordinated by the operations room of the Civitavecchia Port Authority, which sent to the mooring point of the two ships, two tugs, the moorers, the pilots, the motorboat of the Brigade Fire, and harbor fireguards.
After obtaining authorization from the Harbor Master's Office, the tugs proceeded to detach the tank from Celebrity Constellation, in order to avoid dangers, and then transferred it by tow to Quay 23, where waited two tank trucks of the Fire Brigade detachment of Civitavecchia.
During the towing operations, the Coast Guard patrol boat CP 305 regulated traffic in the port and interrupted it in the main phases of the operation.
The fire was put out by the crew members of the tanker "with the preparations on board the same tanker" explained the Harbor Master, adding that the Fire Brigade had subsequently checked for any further outbreaks onboard.
Punta Azzurra (1986-built, IMO 8420347) remains moored, at the disposal of the Harbor Master's Office, pending the scheduled safety visit by the Coast Guard Officers specialized in Navigation Safety (Port State Control) for the launch of an investigation aimed at determining the cause of the accident.
For more Celebrity Constellation incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.