More than 100 ferry passengers have been evacuated from a passenger ship last evening, August 26 (Sunday), after a fire broke out onboard.
Wightlink-operated ship Wight Sky was en-route from Yarmouth NS to Lymington (Canada) when the fire started, prompting the crew onboard to return to the island. A spokeswoman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had been extinguished by the crew before the boat returned to Yarmouth. All 117 passengers had been evacuated and no-one had been injured in the accident.
Wight Sky was escorted to Yarmouth Harbour by the all-weather lifeboat of the town as fire crews waited on the quayside. The fire is thought to have started in the boat's engine room.
It comes almost a year after a crewman on the same ferry was engulfed in flames after a fire broke out.
A report published in July by MAIB (Marine Accident Investigation Branch) said the most likely cause of the accident was debris entering the engine’s oil channels during a rebuild.