Firefighters speed to blaze aboard Waiheke ferry
Firefighters were forced to board an Auckland ferry at sea to fight a blaze in one of its engines.
Smoke was visible inside the cabin and the 97 passengers on board were moved to the outside deck of the Fullers ferry on the 2pm sailing from Waiheke Island to the city yesterday.
A boat carrying firefighters sped out to meet the Quickcat ferry at sea, and the team boarded the vessel and extinguished the fire. The Coastguard then escorted the ferry to the dock, as it moved slowly through the harbour on one engine.
Passenger Mel was travelling on the ferry and said everyone was evacuated to the upper deck by the five crew members on board when the fire broke out.
“Then we were allowed back into the middle deck but we had to go about 7 knots the rest of the way,” she said. “It was a slow journey.”
More firefighters met the ferry on Pier 2 at the downtown ferry terminal with hoses at the ready but there was no sign of smoke or damage to the vessel when it arrived.
Three people were checked over by St John paramedics, including one in a moderate condition.
A Fullers spokeswoman confirmed “a small fire” started in the starboard engine room.
“With a proactive response from our professionally trained crew, the fire was quickly identified and extinguished,” she said. “Customers and crew were moved to the upper deck for their safety and comfort in accordance with our incident response plan.”
She said two crew members suffered from smoke inhalation and the cause of the fire was being investigated.
Staff reporters