What caught our attention this morning was footage uploaded to X showing a 73-meter (240-foot) German-flagged oil tanker ablaze off the Baltic Sea coast of northern Germany.
AP News and Reuters have confirmed that the burning tanker, called "Annika," has approximately 640 metric tons of oil on board. They noted that rescue teams evacuated seven crew members while several firefighting teams battled the fire.
Here's Annika's current location via Bloomberg ship tracking data. Note Russia's Nord Stream is nearby.
Footage on X shows the fire appears to have originated from the stern. There is no official word on whether mechanical issues, human error, or something else caused the fire.
FRACHTER VOR BÖRGERENDE IN FLAMMEN Aktuell brennt vor der Küste von Börgerende ein etwa 100 Meter langer Ölfrachter mit dem Namen "Annika". Es sind mehrere Rettungsboote und ein Hubschrauber im Einsatz. Es gab bereits mehrere Verletzte. Mehr dazu in den Ostseewelle-News. pic.twitter.com/G1xLj39K1O
— Ostseewelle (@ostseewelle_de) October 11, 2024
Olietanker 'Annika' staat in brand voor Duitse kust, bemanning gered
— Transport Online (@transportonline) October 11, 2024
lees meer: https://t.co/dnok1zYO9t pic.twitter.com/1hg3ptc6N7
Pożar na tankowcu na Morzu Bałtyckim u wybrzeży Niemiec
— Slava van Tricht 🇧🇪 🇵🇱 (@SlavaVan) October 11, 2024
W piątek na Morzu Bałtyckim u wybrzeży Kühlungsborn w Niemczech wybuchł pożar na 73-metrowym tankowcu Annika. Poinformowały o tym niemieckie przybrzeżne służby ratownicze. Według naocznych świadków najpierw doszło do… pic.twitter.com/cgvmMf8miL
More broadly speaking, the Baltic Sea has been described as a 'NATO lake.' Russia has several access points to the Baltic Sea, while eight NATO nations surround the critical body of water.
