Time is Running Out for Modern Express

The stricken Ro-Ro Modern Express is drifting on its side off the French Atlantic coast and will run aground in southwest France if a renewed attempt to tow it to port fails on Monday, a French maritime official said.

The 164-metre-long vessel, which was transporting 3,600 tons of wood along with construction machinery from Gabon to France, has been drifting towards the coast since its crew was evacuated by helicopter last week.

The vessel lost power on Tuesday last week, and officials believe its cargo may have shifted in heavy seas, causing it to list heavily (about 50 degrees) to one side. According to some reports, the vessel is stable in that orientation and there is no immediate danger of the vessel capsizing or sinking.

The distressed ship is about 100 kilometers from the resort town of Arcachon and would hit the French shore sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday evening unless a last salvage effort on Monday is successful, Emmanuel de Oliviera, the head of France's Atlantic coast authority, told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

"As of today the sea is stronger than us," he said. "There is still a favorable window tomorrow to try and connect a tugboat."

Smit Salvage towing vessels tried to connect a towing line to the troubled ship last week, but all the attempts have so far failed due to the bad weather. If attempts fail again on Monday, the ship was expected to hit the coast somewhere in the Landes administrative department, south of Arcachon.

A member of the salvage team was injured last week in earlier attempts, and high winds and rough seas ruled out towing operations on Sunday.

There was still no sign of fuel leaking from the crippled ship but the authorities would escort the vessel to limit any environmental pollution if it ran aground, de Oliviera said.

The extreme incline of the ship as well as the difficult sea conditions had so far prevented teams from boarding but calmer weather conditions were forecast for Monday.