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FERRY

Fire breaks out on Brittany Ferries Plymouth to Santander route, no-one hurt

A fire broke out Monday on a cruise ferry carrying hundreds of passengers from Britain to Spain, but the blaze was brought under control with no-one hurt, French maritime authorities said.

Published: 29 April 2019 10:35 CEST
Fire breaks out on Brittany Ferries Plymouth to Santander route, no-one hurt
The Pont-Aven ferry was travelling to Santander from Plymouth. Photo: Brittany Ferries.

The ship, operated by France's Brittany Ferries, raised the alarm around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) when a fire was detected in one of the two engine rooms as it was off the coast of northwest France.

“The fire was quickly brought under control and there were no injured among the 766 passengers and 142 crew,” the regional maritime authorities said.   

A French navy helicopter carrying firefighters and experts was dispatched to the vessel which was travelling from the southern English port of Plymouth to Santander in northern Spain.

On board were travellers from Britain, France, Spain, the United States, China and Poland.

The MV Pont-Aven, which can carry up to 2,400 passengers and 650 cars, is the largest vessel in the company's fleet, measuring 184 metres (603 foot) in length. 

It is particularly popular with Brits travelling to Spain with their dogs as it provides on-board kennelling..

It will dock at Brest port in the northwestern Brittany region later on Monday for checks.

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ACCIDENT

Grounded Finland ferry refloated and heading back to port

UPDATE: A ferry that ran aground next to islands between Finland and Sweden with nearly 430 crew and passengers on board, was refloated and heading for port, its owners said Sunday.

Published: 22 November 2020 09:00 CET
Updated: 22 November 2020 15:57 CET
Grounded Finland ferry refloated and heading back to port
The Viking Line ship Grace hit rocks in in the Aland archipelago. Photo AFP

The Viking Line's “Grace” hit rocks on Saturday afternoon while sailing between the Finnish port of Turku and the Swedish capital Stockholm, shortly before a stopover in Mariehamn, in the Aland archipelago, Finland's coast guard said.

The passengers had to spend the night on board, though there was no immediate danger as it was not taking on water. No one was hurt in the incident.

A tug boat helped refloat the ferry in the small hours of Sunday morning, the coast guard said on Twitter.

After disembarking around 260 passengers at Mariehamn, it went on to its home port of Turku in Finland, a Viking Line spokeswoman told AFP Sunday. It would undergo repairs in the coming days, she added.

Although the cause of the accident has yet to be established, the coast guard said there were strong winds in the area at the time.

The company cancelled its Saturday ferry service, which was to have been taken by a smaller vessel, because of a storm warning.

In September, another Viking Line ferry, the Amorella, ran aground on the same Aaland Island and the passengers had to be evacuated.

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