A Ro-Ro vessel suffered an onboard fire and a subsequent loss of power while underway off the coast of Eastbourne in the UK on Wednesday, November 12.
The Finnlines-operated Finnwave was underway some 19 kilometres off Eastbourne when a blaze ignited in her engine room in the early morning hours (local time) of Wednesday.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) Eastbourne station dispatched a rescue boat to render assistance shortly after the crew of Finnwave sent out a distress call.
The RNLI said the boat headed to the area, "in moderate seas and force five winds."
The Ro-Ro vessel's crew later reported that they had extinguished the fire but were unable to restart the engines.
The RNLI said the Eastbourne boat remained on standby as Finnwave's crew worked to deploy the ship's anchor, a process that lasted over an hour due mainly to the challenging sea conditions at the time.
The anchor was eventually fully deployed and the RNLI boat was cleared by HM Coastguard to return to its station.
The RNLI confirmed that none of the Ro-Ro vessel's crew required evacuation.
