Tenacia ferry accidents and incidents

08 July 2024Fire Accident

At ~02:20 AM local time (~00:20 UTC) on July 8, 2024, the ship suffered an engine room fire. The vessel was navigating in the Balearic Islands and was approx 35 km/22 mi from Ibiza Island and approx 85 km/53 mi from Sa Dragonera (an uninhabited islet off Mallorca/Majorca Island's west coast).

Tenacia was carrying a total of 411 people (350 passengers plus 61 crew).

None of the passenger areas were affected and no injuries were reported.

Spain's maritime rescue agency (Salvamento Maritimo) dispatched to the scene ships, fire crews and rescue personnel. Nine firefighters from land-based units (Catalunya/Catalonia) were airlifted by a rescue helicopter and flown to the ferry to assist its crew and firefighting team. All passengers were gathered at the muster stations/assembly points wearing lifejackets.

The mobilized by Salvamento Maritimo vessels included two SARs/search-and-rescue vessels - one from Ibiza (Salvamar Acrux), and one from Puerto Portals (Salvamar Libertas), plus two tugboats - one from Palma (SAR Mesana) and one from Castellon (Marta Mata), plus one rescue helicopter from Palma.

The BALEARIA-owned ferry Abel Matutes was diverted and requested to stand by in case an evacuation was necessary. Abel Matutes was operating the Barcelona-Palma-Valencia route.

The accident occurred during the regularly scheduled crossing from Valencia (departure July 7th, at 10:30 PM Balearic time/20:30 UTC) bound for Palma de Mallorca (scheduled docking July 8th at 05:15 AM/03:15 UTC).