SHRIMP TRAWLER FIRE STARTED IN SAUNA, REPORT SAYS

The Transportation Safety Board says a fire in January aboard a large factory-freezer trawler started in the ship's sauna as the vessel was catching and processing shrimp off the coast of Newfoundland. The independent agency, in an investigation report released Thursday, said a wooden footrest left on the sauna's electric heater burst into flames. No one was injured, but the fire — detected next to the ship's tanning room — prompted a major search and rescue effort as the crew worked to extinguish the flames amid heavy smoke on the third deck. The Newfoundland Lynx, operated by St. John's-based Ocean Choice International, was 166 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony, N.L., when the fire broke out on Jan. 29. The company has since removed the sauna. The ship, built in 2003, is designed to spend up to six weeks at sea.