The "Modern Express" remained adrift off the northwest tip of Spain with a very heavy list of almost 50 ° on Jan 27. At 10.10 a.m. a Falcon 50 aircraft took off from the naval air base of Lann-Bihoue to relocate the casualty.
At 12.30 p.m., the "Abeille Bourbon", based in Brest, arrived in the area about 370 kilometers west of La Rochelle to ensure the security around.
The very difficult weather conditions and the heel prevented an up evaluation team from boarding the ship on its position 150 miles off La Coruña.
It had a drift of 3 knots towards the mouth of the Gironde estuary.
As the list was gradually increasing, it was thought that there was water ingress. From 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. a second observation flight was carried out by an F406 aircraft of French customs.
The weather on scene was expected to improve on Jan 28 when the anti submarine frigate "Primauguet" with a Lynx helicopter was to join the "Abeille Bourbon" with an evaluation zeam of the navy on board. The owner of the "Modern Express" tasked SMIT salvage for the recovery of the ship.
