Sweden: The fire that had broken out on a ferry carrying 300 people was extinguished

THE fire that broke out today on a ferry carrying 300 people was extinguished and there were no casualties, Swedish port authorities said.

The Stena Scandica was sailing between Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea when an alert was raised at around 12:30 local time (13:30 Greek time) for fire aboard, according to the ship-owning company and rescue services.

According to the company Stena Line that operates the ferrythe fire appears to have spread from a refrigerated truck in the garage.

“The fire has been extinguished,” said Lisa Miorning, a representative of the Swedish port authorities, around 16:30 Greek time.

“In the next three or four hours, the ferry will be towed to the port”explained.

The ferry was on its way from the Latvian port of Ventspils to that of Ninasamn, near Stockholm, where it will be towed.

The 300 people on board the ferry (about 240 passengers and 60 crew members) remained on board, according to the spokeswoman, who revised initial information that the ship had begun to be evacuated.

“There were no injuries on board and there was no evacuation“, according to the port authorities.

A Stena Line spokesman described the fire as “limited, centered around a refrigerated truck in the garage.”mainly with tobacco».

Three helicopters and seven boats were sent to the scene. Another ferry was ordered to change course in case the ferry needed to be evacuated.

Stena Scanica is located off the island of Gotska Sandon, southeast of the Swedish authorities.

One of the biggest disasters of the 20th century unfolded between the Baltic countries and Sweden in September 1994 with the sinking of the ferry “Estonia” which killed 852 people.