Belfast-bound ferry suffers engine room fire

Stena Superfast VIII (Photo: MarineTraffic.com/Ian Graham)

HM Coastguard personnel and local lifeboat crews have responded to a fire incident on board a Ro-Pax ferry as it was sailing from Cairnryan to Belfast on Monday, July 12.

The crew of the 203-metre Stena Superfast VIII said a small blaze ignited in the engine room at around 21:00 local time as the vessel was nearing Belfast.

Stena Line said that the fire was extinguished within minutes and that the vessel was able to reach Belfast with escorting tugs and coastguard vessels at 22:16, barely 30 minutes after its originally scheduled arrival.

There were no reports of injuries among the passengers, all of whom have since safely disembarked. One passenger remarked that the onboard atmosphere was “relatively calm” even after the crew announced that it was working to contain a fire that had broken out on board.


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