Firefighters battle blaze on North Sea ferry
Fire teams and RAF helicopters were sent today to battle a blaze on board a North Sea ferry with 611 passengers aboard.
Coastguards were alerted at 2.20am this morning after a fire broke out in the engine room of the Norsea, a P&O ferry.
Hundreds of passengers donned lifejackets and were told to muster at emergency points on deck, as the vessel drifted in the North Sea, eight miles north east of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
The ship’s crew fought the fire in the vessel’s engine room which was shut down and pumped with CO2 gas to extinguish the flames.
Two RAF Sea King helicopters were scrambled from Wattisham in Suffolk and Leconfield, North Yorkshire, to join the rescue bid.
A rescue Nimrod from RAF Kinloss in Moray, Scotland, was preparing to join the rescue, along with another helicopter from Belgium.
Mark Clark, spokesman for Yarmouth Coastguard said they were first alerted via satellite telephone from the Norsea at 2.20am.
The ferry’s master reported that there were no injuries on board due to the fire - although there is concern for one passenger, a woman who suffers from angina.
“The master is confident the fire will be kept under control,” Mr Clark said.
Mr Clark said it was not necessary to airlift any passengers off the ferry at this stage. Lifeboats from Gorlston, Lowestoft and Caister have been sent to the scene.
Nine other vessels at sea in the area, mainly tugs that service nearby oil and gas rigs, have been put on standby.
A second P&O ferry was also diverted to the area to assist.
A team of firefighters from Suffolk Fire Brigade was also airlifted to the ferry by RAF helicopter.
Mr Clark said ferries like the Norsea are designed in such a way that if there is a fire in the engine room, the whole room is shut down automatically and CO2 pumped in to extinguish the fire.
“That smothers the fire but you then have to wait before you can open the doors again to check for hotspots as this supply of oxygen would just re-ignite the fire.”
The ferry was on its usual route between Hull and Zeebrugge when the fire broke out. The weather in the area was reported to be calm.
The Norsea was launched in 1986 by the Queen Mother. It is a vessel of 31,000 tonnes and normally has a crew of 107. It is 179 metres long and 25 metres wide, with a passenger capacity of 1,250.
The Norsea can also carry 850 cars or 180 lorries.
It has 446 cabins, bars, a restaurant and dance floors, shops and children’s playroom.
It also has two 24-person lifeboats, four larger lifeboats and 44 inflatable liferafts.
