The oil tanker that caught fire off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on Friday suffered no visible damage to its hull as a result of the fire, water police have confirmed.
Divers inspected the exterior of the 73-meter tanker Annika on Saturday. The dive, which was documented with a helmet camera, was intended to determine whether there were any deformations in the hull or changes in the paintwork due to heat build-up.
The tanker, which was carrying 640 tonnes of heavy fuel oil early on Friday when a fire broke out in the rear, was towed overnight to the north-eastern German port of Rostock where the fire was extinguished.
Major damage is said to have occurred to the rear of the ship.
The investigation into the cause of the fire will begin on Monday. Until then, the ship is out of service and oil barriers have been built around it as a precaution. So far, no pollutants have leaked from the double-hulled tanker.