A ship fire prompted the evacuation of numerous cruise tourists from their cabins.
The accident occurred at ~3:15 am NSW time (~17:15 UTC) on Sunday, May 28th when a fire broke out on the balcony of the Pacific Adventure ship which was anchored off NSW's coast. In response, guests were swiftly relocated to the muster stations.
P&O Australia confirmed that the fire was swiftly extinguished upon detection, and praised the cooperation of everyone on board during the activation of emergency response procedures.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries.
According to a passenger, the fire was caused by a cigarette. Alarms and a voice-over announcement startled the guests from their sleep. It appears that the fire was contained within a single cabin.
After the fire was successfully extinguished, guests were permitted to return to their cabins at ~5:20 am NWS (~19:20 UTC).
The extent of the ship's damage is currently being assessed.
Pacific Adventure is currently undertaking a 3-day cruise departing from/returning to Sydney NSW. The scheduled return to Sydney is on Tuesday, May 30th. There are 3017 guests and 1080 crew members on board.
For more Pacific Adventure incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.