Ferry Fire- Across the pond

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A ferry carrying 611 passengers
caught fire in the North Sea early on Monday and rescue
helicopters have been sent to the vessel, a Royal Air Force
official said.
Michael Mulford, an RAF spokesman, said two helicopters had
been scrambled to the blazing ferry, eight miles off the coast
of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
He said the fire, which was in the engine room, appeared to
be under control.
"It's very likely the passengers will stay on board because
that's the safest place for them," he told Reuters.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The ferry's origin and destination were not immediately
clear. It was also unclear which company operated the vessel.
Mulford said the ship's master called the Coast Guard at
2:15 a.m. to report the blaze.
RAF firefighting teams were flown to the vessel, although
Mulford said it appeared the ship's crew were able to extinguish
the fire.
He said it was unlikely additional rescue helicopters would
need to be dispatched.

Reut00:14 09-02-02

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A ferry with over 600 people on
board was limping across the North Sea from England to Belgium
on Monday after firefighters tamed an engine room blaze which
forced passengers to don lifejackets and prepare for evacuation.
"The fire has been extinguished and the ship is moving under
its own command," said a spokesman for the British coastguard,
confirming that the ship was continuing along its scheduled
route to the port of Zeebrugge.
The P&O ferry Norsea caught fire at around 2:20 a.m. (0120
GMT), shortly after leaving the northeastern England port of
Hull on its 13-1/2 hour voyage.
Helicopters carrying firefighting teams were scrambled to
the vessel while three coastguard lifeboats, 10 other vessels
and another helicopter were also put on standby in case an
evacuation were needed.
At one point the passengers and 124 crew were ordered to put
on lifejackets and muster at their assembly stations as a
procedural measure.
The ship's crew managed to extinguish the fire by smothering
the flames with CO2 gas but the ferry drifted for hours off the
eastern port of Great Yarmouth before its one good engine could
be restarted.
The blaze was the second on the ship within the past month.
On August 14, two crew members were slightly injured when a
fire broke out in its other engine room during a voyage on the
same route.
A P&O spokeswoman said the two fires were not related.
The 31,785 gross tonne Norsea was built in 1987 and carries
up to 1,250 passengers.
The biggest North Sea rescue alert in years occurred in May
when fires broke out in the engine room of a Danish passenger
ferry carrying 881 people.
Crew members were able to extinguish that blaze, on the
Princess of Scandinavia, and no evacuations were necessary.
(Additional reporting by Gideon Long)