Many ships and conveys couldn’t shelter from the current bad weather, which was particularly harsh for the Baltic Performer on Saturday when she was South West of Brittany.
Around 3pm on Saturday, the Cross Etel was warned by the Lann-Bihoué maritime control aircraft that the cargo ship was in difficulty due to a Force 7 wind on the Beaufort scale (50-61 km/h) and heavy seas (6-9 metres).
The refrigerated cargo ship left Vlissingen in the Netherlands on the 19th October and was headed to Dakar, Senegal. Some of the cargo slipped and unbalanced the ship by 15 degrees. The cargo was made up of 6,120 tons of onions wedged on palettes.
The ship, that belongs to the company Seatrade was built in 1992, had to ask for help and was met by the Abeille Bourbon around 2am and escorted to Brest. The ship measures 150 metres in length and 22.50 metres in width.