Salvors Narrowly Avert a Capsizing After Trawler Burns at Pier in Ribeira
Salvors have successfully prevented the capsizing of a trawler at the port of Ribeira, Galicia, limiting the impact from a severe onboard fire.
At about 1630 hours on Monday afternoon, the Mauritanian-flagged fishing vessel Awadi caught fire alongside the pier in Barbanza, Galicia. The blaze started in a hold, where maintenance work was under way. A bystander reported the incident to local emergency responders, and shoreside fire teams began work to suppress the blaze and prevent the risk of spreading the fire to nearby ships. No injuries were reported on board.
The response effort drew in five fire trucks and crews from around the region, as well as coast guard and environmental agency representatives. Efforts to control the spread of the blaze on board were not successful, and it expanded through multiple compartments.
???? O servizo autonómico de Gardacostas de Galicia desprazou ao buque Mar de Galicia e a auxiliar do Ría de Vigo para participar nas labores de extinción do lume declarado nun pesqueiro atracado no porto de Ribeira. En breve incorporarse ao operativo o Ría de Vigo. pic.twitter.com/OOAijkZEim
— Gardacostas Galicia (@GardacostasGal) September 1, 2025
The team brought aboard bilge pumps to evacuate firefighting water, as the Awadi had begun to take on a list, according to local media. By late Tuesday, it was listing 40 degrees to starboard, and salvors began working to find the cause. It turned out that the bilge system for the hold was admitting water into the compartment, according to Diario de Arousa, so divers were sent below to plug it and halt the water ingress.
Firefighters also removed all of their own gear and all of the stores from the weather deck in order to improve the vessel's stability, and they reduced the amount of water they were introducing inside the ship.
The list has stabilized but the fire is still smoldering, port director Juan Sanmartin told local media, adding that it will likely continue to do so for several days until the flammable stores inside the vessel are consumed. So far, no pollution has been reported, but the ship has 18,000 liters of diesel on board and will need to be defueled.
Once the emergency response is fully completed and the fire is out, an investigation into the cause of the casualty will begin. Port officials say that a stray welding spark may have started the fire, a constant risk during repair periods.