On the way to Mallorca

Fire on ferry: passengers at sea for 24 hours

Symbolic image

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/EKH-Pictures)

Due to a fire on their ferry Tenacia to Mallorca, 350 passengers had to wait around 24 hours at sea. Instead of reaching the vacation island early on Monday morning, they were transferred to replacement ships on the high seas and brought back to their port of departure, Valencia. They should arrive there in the course of Monday evening, the Italian shipping company GNV announced on request. Fortunately, no one was injured.

In the port city on the Spanish mainland, the car ferry Tenacia had set sail on Sunday evening for Palma, where it was due to arrive on Monday morning, the shipping company added. Shortly after midnight, however, a fire broke out in the engine room about halfway along the route. The Tenacia had to stop and the fire was initially fought with on-board resources, but the flames could not be extinguished so quickly.

This article shows the ferry and the dicey operation:

On Monday afternoon, the captain reportedly finally ordered the ship to be evacuated. Professional firefighters were flown in by helicopter.

People evacuated via rescue hose
The Spanish sea rescue service transferred the passengers and some of the crew, who all had to put on life jackets, to two other ships nearby using smaller boats. The people had to slide down from the high ferry through a so-called rescue tube to the small sea rescue boats.

They were then taken back to Valencia, where the shipwrecked vessel, on which the passengers' cars and luggage had been left behind, was also towed.

In Valencia, the people were to be accommodated in hotels for one night before finally reaching the vacation island with their cars and luggage on a replacement ferry on Tuesday, as the shipping company announced. The cause of the fire was initially unknown.