Af-Francesca

The ferry 'AF Francesca', en route from Bari, allided with the berthed 'Rigel III' in the port of Durrës on Dec 23, 2024, at noon, leaving 1500 passengers stranded for several hours. The incident was caused by bad weather that had engulfed the Bay of Durrës and created serious problems in the mooring of ferries, especially at the moment of anchoring at the quay Tugs brought the 'AF Franceska' under control. The damage was limited, but due to the weather conditions, the 'Af Francesca' will sail without passengers, and the ferry “AF Marina”, also scheduled to depart to Bari, has suspended its departure until the situation normalizes. A fishing boat also sank in the fishing port basin. There were no injuries. Reports with video: https://opinion.al/video-moti-i-keq-perplasen-2-tragete-ne-portin-e-durresit/ https://shqiptarja.com/lajm/videolajm-dy-tragete-perplasen-ne-kalaten-e-portit-te-durresit-shkak-moti-i-keq-ska-te-plagosur https://joq-albania.com/artikull/1245335.html

The "Af Francesca" left the port of Bari again after the fire on board on May 13, on May 30 at 11 a.m. The ferry docked at the Shipyard Victor Lenac in Kostrena port on June 1 at 4.45 p.m.

An engine room fire broke out aboard the "Af Francesca" with 203 passengers, among the m 50 Italians, and a crew of 53, among them 20 Italians, on May 13, 2015, at 1 a.m. while the ship was enroute from Durrës, where she had sailed in the early morning of May 12, to Bari. The ferry was seven miles off the Apulian coast. It could be put out by the crew at 2.30 a.m. No one was injured. All measures for possible evacuation were taken immediately after the alarm was raised. The passengers were assembled at the lifeboats which were prepared accordingly. Three patrol boats of the Guardia di Finanza and the fire brigade as well as the Coast Guard were alerted, and tugs were called from Bari and Barletta. One tug then towed the ship to Bari where the ship berthed around 7 a.m. and the passengers were disembarked from the ship. They were taken by shuttle to the ferry terminal for identification by the border police. Fire engines the port captain along with police were in attendance at the quay in front of the Cruise Terminal. The ship, once the cars and trucks have been unloaded, was to be transferred to a berth at the breakwater to make room to another ferry. The mostly Albanian passengers of the "Af Francesca" were to be taken back to Durrës aboard another ferry in the run of May 13. Italian reports with photos and video: http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/foto-gallery/puglia/15_maggio_13/motonave-rientrata-bari-l-incendio-0f644f86-f936-11e4-bebe-2b86c4bd21d7.shtml http://www.ansa.it/puglia/notizie/2015/05/13/incendio-su-traghetto-al-largo-di-bari_75ef8929-f964-46f6-b746-eaf59583cd53.html http://www.adnkronos.com/fatti/cronaca/2015/05/13/incendio-sul-traghetto-rotta-per-albania-nessun-ferito_Rokq1AgSQbBmKKp4wLdtGI.html http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/puglia/incendio-in-mare-brucia-un-traghetto-bari-nave-rientrata-nessun-ferito_2110922-201502a.shtml http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/homepage/incendio-su-traghetto-bari-durazzo-nave-rientrata-al-porto-nesun-ferito-tra-no816937