Mayday call after blaze on vessel in harbour

POLICE and fire crews were scrambled to deal with a small blaze onboard a sailing vessel in Portsmouth Harbour.

Fire crews from Southsea, Gosport, and Fareham fire stations, alongside police and ambulance services, were called to the ferry launches in Gosport and Gunwarf Quays in Portsmouth after a mayday call from a small sailing vessel in the harbour at 6.18pm on Sunday.

A spokesman from HM Coastguard said: ‘Gosport Independent Lifeboat, Hampshire Fire And Rescue Service, Hampshire Constabulary, and South Central Ambulance Service were tasked to assist a sailing vessel that made a mayday call. A police launch assisted the crew to extinguish the fire and tow the vessel to Gunwharf Quays.’

Southsea station firefighters were told that the incident was sparked by a ‘small electrical fault’, which led to the four people onboard making the distress call as a precaution.

A firefighter called to the incident said: ‘It was much ado about nothing.’