CRUISE SHIP BOUDICCA HIT BY ENGINE ROOM FIRE
The Fred Olsen cruise
ship Boudicca is carrying 784 passengers and 356 crew
25 January 2015
A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 people was left
without power off Morocco after an engine room fire.
The fire at 04:00 BST left the ship "listing"
and "in pitch black", said Dave Tonkin, whose father is on board.
The ship was without engine power for about five hours.
Fred Olsen, the company which owns the ship, said it was
now fully stable and had five engines running with two still not working. There
was no danger to passengers or crew, it said.
Gavin Poole, from Wimbledon, south London, said his
parents, who are in their 70s, texted him in the early hours of the morning.
"The texts said, 'no engines, fire in the engine
room, there's smoke, we're in life jackets and the captain says everything is
under control'," he said.
"I spoke to my parents a bit later at 07:30 BST and
they were in their cabin still in their life jackets. The fire was out, but
half of the ship had power and the other half didn't, and it was listing."
No injuries
Fred Olsen spokeswoman Rachael Jackson said at no point
were holidaymakers asked to don life jackets or gather at muster stations, as
the situation was contained by crew members.
"The fire was in the engine room, but has now been
extinguished, and no guests or crew have been injured," she said.
The Boudicca listed for "a short period" but
was now stable and travelling again, although more slowly than normal, she
added.
Two main engines and three auxiliary engines are
running, while two other engines are still being mended.
"At the current speed of eight knots, we are
currently reviewing the onward itinerary and will make a decision as to our
next port of call in due course," she said.
Boudicca left Southampton on 20 January for an 18-night
cruise of Cape Verde and the Canary Islands.
The ship's online locator currently shows it off the
coast of Casablanca, Morocco. It left Cadiz, Spain, on Saturday, and was due to
arrive in Lanzarote on Monday.
The Boudicca currently has 784 passengers and 356 crew
on board.
It is one of four cruise liners owned by the UK-based,
Norwegian-owned company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
It is not the first time the Boudicca has been in the
news. Last year Fred Olsen paid £280,000 in
compensation to 130 holidaymakers who suffered gastric illnesses on board
between October 2009 and May 2010.
The ship was also hit in 2013 when 98 passengers
contracted a vomiting bug.