Video

Watch as the Royal Navy attempts a rescue of 27 crew on board a burning container ship.

HMS Argyll was returning home to Plymouth, Devon, when its crew were called to assist the Grande America, 150 miles off the French coast on Sunday night.

The ship's cargo of containers and cars had caught fire, forcing its crew to abandon ship and board a lifeboat that was then damaged in rough conditions.</s>The cargo of cars on board the Grande America caught fire. Pics: Royal Navy

Sailors aboard HMS Argyll have saved 27 people from a container ship after its cargo caught fire.

The frigate was heading back to Plymouth when it responded to a mayday call in the middle of the night off the coast of France.

It took about eight hours to save the crew members, and the Royal Navy said the victims "were fighting a losing battle against the flames and abandoning ship".

They fled the 28,000-tonne merchant ship in a lifeboat which smashed into heavy seas as it launched - and one navy official said it was "bobbing around like a cork in a bathtub".

Despite the "very difficult sea conditions", HMS Argyll successfully launched her sea boat - nudging the lifeboat against the frigate's side so the crew of the Grande America could be brought aboard.

Lieutenant Commander Dave Tetchner said: "The conditions were horrendous - the vessels were rolling at 30 degrees which made it extremely hairy getting the sailors safely on board.

"Royal Marines were on the ropes hauling people up."

The 27 rescued sailors were taken to the French port of Brest. Although none of them suffered life-threatening injuries, some require hospital treatment.

Lt Cdr Tetchner added: "It was pretty awful for them - they'd had to fight a fire in dreadful seas. Every one of them suffered smoke inhalation.

"Then they faced the prospect of abandoning ship and then their lifeboat failed. It was pretty awful all round and they were shocked.

"You see container ships like this every day when you're sailing around the world. What you do not see is one in flames - it was a dreadful sight."

Grande America, which was carrying cars and container ships, was still on fire when HMS Argyll left the scene at about 5am on Monday - about 150 miles away from Brest.

The Italian-registered vessel was heading from Casablanca to Hamburg when the blaze broke out at 8pm on Sunday night.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson commended the crew and said that the ship's "swift and selfless response to very dangerous situation in difficult conditions undoubtedly saved 27 lives".

HMS Argyll was on her way home after spending nine months in the Asia-Pacific at the time of the distress call.

The commanding officer of HMS Argyll, Cdr Toby Shaughnessy, added: "I am incredibly proud of my ship's company and the way they performed in this rescue effort in the most challenging of conditions.

"Without doubt this was a near run thing. The conditions were on the limit for recovery and this could just as easily been a different result.

"It was an exceptional team effort and there's a great feeling on board after a successful result - everyone was saved."</s>A crew of 27 were saved from a container ship engulfed in flames after a Royal Navy vessel moved in to save them from 150 miles away.

It took sailors on HMS Argyll just eight hours to save every person aboard the 28,000-tonne merchant ship in the Bay of Biscay after the ship’s cargo of containers and cars caught fire.

The crew aboard the Grande America merchant ship had been trying to fight the flames but were forced to abandon it, climbing into their lifeboat despite the 5m to 6m swirls in the sea at night.

The lifeboat’s engine had been damaged, which left it unable to move away from the flames leaving the crew “bobbing around like a cork in a bathtub”.

On receiving a mayday message, the Argyll moved 150 miles through difficult sea conditions to launch their small sea boat, which was used to nudge the lifeboat against the safety of the frigate so the crew could be lifted to safety one-by-one.

Lieutenant Commander Dave Tetchner, from HMS Argyll, said: “It was pretty awful for them – they’d had to fight a fire in dreadful seas.

“Every one of them suffered smoke inhalation. Then they faced the prospect of abandoning ship and then their lifeboat failed. It was pretty awful all round and they were shocked.

“You see container ships like this every day when you’re sailing around the world. What you do not see is one in flames – it was a dreadful sight.”

The 27 sailors rescued were then taken to the French port of Brest and while there were no life-threatening injuries, some required hospital treatment.

The frigate had been returning to Plymouth after nine months in the Asia- Pacific region working with allies overseas.

The MV Grande America was still aflame when Argyll left the merchant ship around 5am. The Italian-registered vessel had been bound for Casablanca from Hamburg when the fire broke out at 8pm on Sunday.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “HMS Argyll’s swift and selfless response to very dangerous situation in difficult conditions undoubtedly saved 27 lives. I commend her crew.

“This rescue demonstrates that even on the final leg of a challenging nine-month deployment to the Far East, the Royal Navy’s sailors remain vigilant and professional at all times.”</s>Watch the moment the crew of HMS Argyll save every crew member aboard the Grande America in the Bay of Biscay after the ship’s cargo of containers and cars caught fire.

The frigate responded to a mayday from the 28,000-tonne merchant ship about 150 miles southwest of Brest: the crew were fighting a losing battle against the flames and were abandoning ship into 5m to 6m seas at night.

When they did, all 27 crammed aboard the lifeboat which smashed into the heavy seas as it launched, damaging the craft which was unable to make headway.

Watch the video to see the dramatic rescue.
HMS Argyll rescues a 27-strong crew from a burning container vessel 150 miles off the coast of France.