Fire forces evacuation of Orange cable ship crew

PARIS: The crew of a cable ship owned by France-Telecom Orange that provides maintenance off the coast of Namibia were evacuated after a fire broke out on board, Orange said in a statement.

"A fire broke out on the Chamarel ship late afternoon on 8 August while returning from a repair operation on the Sat3-Safe cable off the coast of Namibia in the Atlantic Ocean," said the statement.

"Despite the crew's efforts to control the fire, the decision was made to abandon the ship at around 8 pm local time."

None of the 56 crew on board was hurt.

A full investigation into the cause of the fire will be launched once the ship has returned to the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, the company said, adding that the fire "has no immediate impact on submarine cables in the area, which will continue to function normally."

The Chamarel is one of six cable ships owned by Orange that perform vital telecoms maintenance work and lay down new submarine systems to improve network coverage.

Source: AFP