新西兰英语 668 Rescue at Sea

 　　A fishing boat with a crew of 43 people on board, caught fire early this morning. The boat, the Amaltal Columbia, was 70 km off the coast of Christchurch at the time. Fire broke out in the fish meal hold about 5.20am. The captain sent out a mayday call at 5.40 am. The crew tried to fight the fire for the next two hours but they had to give up because of the smoke. They got into life rafts. It was dark, windy, very cold and the sea was rough with three metre high waves.

　　Two other fishing boats, which belonged to different fishing companies, came to help. A New Zealand Air Force plane and helicopter also came. The fishing boats picked up the people in the life rafts. One boat arrived back in Lyttelton Harbour near Christchurch early this afternoon with most of the crew. The other boat is towing¹ the Amaltal Columbia back to Lyttelton and will arrive some time during the night.

　　The Amaltal Columbia belongs to the Talley fish company in Nelson. It is 64m long and has a fish factory on board. It can freeze fish. It also makes fish meal with the fish bones and other waste from the fish. The boat left Nelson three weeks ago. The plan was for six weeks at sea. It has about 200,000 litres of fuel on board but the hold is sealed off, with no oxygen, so the fire cannot spread.

　　Idioms

　　people / factory / fuel on board

　　fire broke out

　　sent out a mayday call

　　fight the fire

　　Vocabulary

　　fish meal – waste from the fish is cooked. It is used for fertilizer² or for feeding chickens.

　　hold (n) – place for storage below the deck of the boat

　　crew – people who work on a boat

　　tow – pull, using a rope

　　seal off – cover

1 towing   

v.拖，拉，拽( tow的现在分词 )；拖带

参考例句：

• a car towing a trailer with a boat on it 拖着一辆载有小船的拖车的小汽车
• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fertilizer   

n.肥料，化肥

参考例句：

• Fertilizer enriches the soil.肥料使土壤肥沃。
• Get some more fertilizer for the garden.给花园再多施些肥料。