Fire Aboard Seismic Vessel Rem Andes off Louisiana Leaves 42 Rescued

A fire broke out aboard the seismic vessel Rem Andes while it was operating off the coast of Grande Isle, Louisiana, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. All 42 people on board initiated abandon-ship procedures, moving into life rafts before being rescued. The fire was ultimately extinguished and the vessel was left adrift.

After receiving a distress call on the afternoon of October 12, the Coast Guard deployed a C-27 Spartan aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry from the Aviation Training Center Mobile, and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station New Orleans to assist the vessel. Those who boarded the life rafts were transferred to nearby vessels acting as Good Samaritans, identified by Grand Isle Police Chief Chris Hernandez as two tankers bound for Port Fourchon; the Charleston, South Carolina-based cutter USCGC Yellowfin also assisted. No injuries were reported in the incident.

AIS data showed that the Rem Andes slowed down and began deviating from its usual seismic survey track around 09:55 hours on Monday, later drifting northeast to a position about 90 nautical miles south of Whiskey Island, Louisiana. According to local outlet WVUE Fox 8, the fire had been brought under control by around 14:45 local time, although efforts to rescue crew members from lifeboats continued into the afternoon.

The Rem Andes is an 87.9-meter vessel operated by Norway's Rem Offshore and managed by Rem Maritime, which entered service in 2012 and sails under the Cyprus flag, according to records cited by the sources. The vessel had been conducting seismic surveys on the deepwater continental shelf of the United States for at least the past year, operating out of Gulfport and Port Fourchon, and had previously taken part in a 3D ocean-bottom node seismic survey carried out by PXGEO for WesternGeco in U.S. federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico between late 2024 and mid-2025. The vessel had passed its latest Coast Guard port state control inspection in late 2025 with no deficiencies.

Following the incident, the rescued crew members were taken to Port Fourchon. According to the Coast Guard, commercial salvage operations for the Rem Andes are being coordinated while an investigation into the incident is underway.