Cruise ship Boudicca hit by engine room fire

BoudiccaThe Fred Olsen cruise ship Boudicca is carrying 784 passengers and 356 crew

A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 people was left without power off Morocco after an engine room fire.

Holidaymakers on board the Boudicca were told to don life jackets and gather at emergency muster stations, according to the son of one passenger.

The fire at 04:00 BST left the ship “listing” and “in pitch black”, said Dave Tonkin, whose father is onboard.

Fred Olsen, the company which owns the ship, said it was now fully stable and had five engines running again.

Boudicca

Spokeswoman Rachael Jackson said Boudicca listed for “a short period” but was now stable and travelling again, although more slowly than normal.

“The fire was in the engine room, but has now been extinguished, and no guests or crew have been injured,” she said.

She said two main engines and three auxiliary engines were running, while two other engines were still being mended.

The ship will aim to arrive in Lanzarote, Spain, on Monday as planned, she added.

It currently has 784 passengers and 356 crew on board.

The Boudicca is one of four cruise liners owned by the UK-based, Norwegian-owned company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

The ship’s online locator currently shows it off the coast of Casablanca, Morocco. It left Cadiz, Spain, on Saturday.

It is not the first time the Boudicca has been in the news. Last year Fred Olsen paid £280,000 in compensation to 130 holidaymakers who suffered gastric illnesses on board between October 2009 and May 2010.

The ship was also hit in 2013 when 98 passengers contracted a vomiting bug.

Boudicca docks in Belfast after illness outbreak

Boudicca docks in Belfast after illness outbreak

By Phil Davies

Boudicca docks in Belfast after illness outbreakA cruise ship that was hit with an outbreak of a gastroenteritis-type illness has docked in Belfast.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is reported by Sky News as saying 84 of its 763 passengers on board the ship Boudicca were affected.

The ship left Belfast on September 23 on a 10-night Scandinavian cities cruise.

The vessel is due to undergo a sanitation and cleaning programme before it sails again later today.

It is the second sickness outbreak to hit a Fred Olsen cruise in weeks, after around 130 people contracted a gastroenteritis-type illness on Black Watch last month as it sailed from Fife to Scandinavia and St Petersburg.

Boudicca is scheduled to leave on a 12-night a cruise to Madeira and the Canary Islands.

The cruise line said in a statement to Sky News: “It is extremely unfortunate that a number of guests on board this Scandinavian cruise have experienced this illness.

“In such instances, every precaution is taken on board to ensure the swift containment of the illness, and a number of public areas, including all public toilets and the self-service buffet, are closed.

“Frequent cleaning of all areas of the ship is carried out, and any guest showing symptoms of the virus is asked to remain in their cabin, with complimentary room service and in-cabin entertainment, until they are considered to be symptom-free by the ship’s doctor, before being able to join the rest of the ship.

“Fred Olsen would emphasise that, as with all its sailings from regional UK departure ports, it works closely with the relevant Local Health Authorities and Port Health Authorities to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of all its guests and crew, which are the company’s utmost priority.

“All of Fred Olsen’s cruise ships meet, at all times, the highest safety, hygiene and health standards.”

The line added that people booked on Boudicca’s next cruise had been informed of the situation.