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Crews Pump Air Into Norwegian Ship

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 January 2004, 06:00 CST

A salvage team pumped air into the hull of a capsized freighter Tuesday in a desperate search for 16 crewmen missing since the ship overturned in the frigid North Sea off the coast of Norway.

The Norwegian-owned ship, the MS Rocknes, sent out a distress call before overturning in a narrow inlet about 200 yards off the western island of Bjoroey about 4:30 p.m. Monday. Emergency teams pulled 12 people from the water. At least two people were confirmed dead.

"We will keep searching as long as there is hope and beyond that," said Asbjoern Andersen, a local police official. "They are still searching for signs of life in the wreck."

The cause of the accident is still being investigated. Crewmen told the Bergens Tidende newspaper that the ship hit bottom or a shoal shortly before capsizing.

A team of Dutch salvage experts arrived Tuesday morning to help cut holes into the hull to pump air inside, but hopes dimmed for finding anyone alive after rescuers heard no noise from inside the overturned freighter overnight, said Else Beth Roalso, a spokeswoman for the Rescue Coordination Center for Southern Norway.

The 544-foot vessel is not stable enough for divers to enter, Roalso said.

The freighter, which was loaded with stone and headed for Germany, had a crew of 29, including 24 Filipinos, three from the Netherlands, one from Norway and one from Germany. A Norwegian ship's pilot also was aboard.

Authorities placed containment booms around the wreck to prevent more than 500 tons of oil and diesel fuel from spilling out of the ship.

Late Monday, seven hours after the ship capsized, rescuers cut a hole in the ship and pulled out three crewmen who pounded on the inside of the hull to attract attention.

"All of them were conscious, and talking," said Trygve Hillestad, a police spokesman.

The water temperature was about 41.

At least one of those killed was Filipino, said Arleen Asuncion, an official in the Philippines with the ship's owner, Jebsen Management. Survivors were being treated in Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen. Eight of the rescued and 15 of the missing also are Filipinos, she said.

Rescue ships and small boats responded quickly, most from a nearby Norwegian naval base. Helicopters buzzed over the scene in the darkness.

The rescue effort was complicated by the night and ice covering parts of the ship's hull.

Bjoroey is about 200 miles west of the capital, Oslo.

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