The Fred Olsen Cruise Line’s ship Black Watch with 700 passengers on board caught fire during a voyage to Madeira port, Portugal. The fire started in three of the auxiliary diesel generators in engine room, due to overheaing after failure of the cooling system. The high temperature caused inflammation of the nearby cables and material, which was followed by flames and fire.
The crew reacted immediately and evacuated the engine room. The CO2 firefighting was started and flames were extinguished. The crew stopped effected diesel generators, as well as main engines during investigation and repair works. None of the passengers and crew were injured during the incident, but vessel remained without power and electricity for several hours.
The investigation and root cause of the accident was started. The repairs are expected to be made en-route to Madeira. The vessel restarted half from the power and successfully reached Madeira, where the passengers were disembarkt and returned to their homes with full refund.
“There has been some cabling damage on board, which is affecting lighting and communications, but all other services are working as normal. However, the cabling damage has prevented the other two main engines from running, and it is anticipated that the repairs will cause disruption to guests during the recabling. Therefore, we have made the decision — in the best interests of guests’ comfort and enjoyment — to fly them home from Funchal. Our intention is to charter a private aircraft for our guests back to the U.K over the next few days, at Fred. Olsen’s expense”, says the official statement of Fred Olsen Cruise Line.
The cruise ship Black Watch (IMO: 7108930) has overall length of 205.00 m, moulded beam of 25.00 m and maximum draft of 7.50 m. The deadweight of the ship is 5,656 DWT and the gross tonnage is 28,613 GRT. The vessel was built in 1972 by STX Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland.
Source: maritimeherald.com