Portsmouth - Channel Islands freight ferry engine room fire

[AndrewE]

Can't see this elsewhere...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gq5xdy5dyo and an update today https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1jkd580lzzo

A cargo ship is set to be towed to shore after a fire broke out in its engine room off the Isle of Wight.

The Caesarea Trader will be checked and then towed into Portsmouth at "first light" where crews from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service will take over the incident.
The blaze on the vessel, which is at anchor east of Shanklin, was first reported to HM Coastguard at about 15:45 GMT on Monday.

I can't see the direction of travel mentioned (and can't get AIS to replay) but I'm guessing it happened shortly after leaving Portsmouth rather than at the end of a crossing - which would mean that a shipful of stuff isn't going to arrive for some time yet...

 

[swt_passenger]

I noticed that report last night. The ‘marine traffic‘ website AIS tracking still has her at anchor as I write this, and the ’route overview’ suggests she was inbound to Portsmouth.

 

[Gloster]

I presume that it is coming in from the Channel Islands, so would it be carrying much freight? The islands are not great industrial centres so, other than agricultural products, would it have much other than empty trailers returning after delivering to the islands?

 

[swt_passenger]

I presume that it is coming in from the Channel Islands, so would it be carrying much freight? The islands are not great industrial centres so, other than agricultural products, would it have much other than empty trailers returning after delivering to the islands?

News from Channel Island sources confirms it was a northbound sailing from Jersey to Portsmouth, eg here:

DFDS has confirmed that a back-up vessel has been called in – and that it is working to finalise a “revised” sailing schedule for freight customers – after the Caesarea Trader suffered an engine room fire while on its way from Jersey to Portsmouth yesterday.

The Danish shipping firm said that MV Arrow, which has previously been chartered to operate in island waters, was on its way from Dunkirk and due to arrive in Portsmouth on Wednesday morning.

Back-up vessel en route after DFDS cargo ship suffers engine room fire - Bailiwick Express News Jersey

DFDS has confirmed that a back-up vessel has been called in – and that it is working to finalise a “revised” sailing schedule for freight customers – after the Caesarea Trader suffered an engine room fire while on its way from Jersey to Portsmouth yesterday. The Danish shipping firm said that MV...

www.bailiwickexpress.com

 

[Russel]

Reading the BBC update link, the fire was reported at 15:45 and the situation described as stable at 22:00, given that's a timespan of over 6 hours, would that suggest it was quite a substantial fire?

 

[Acathater]

The Arrow is the Isle-of-Man Steam Packets backup for the backup...i.e. the spare in case the Ben and the Manxman both become unavailable.
The Ben's on charter to Stena, so lets hope the Manxman doesn't have another problem

 

[swt_passenger]

Reading the BBC update link, the fire was reported at 15:45 and the situation described as stable at 22:00, given that's a timespan of over 6 hours, would that suggest it was quite a substantial fire?

I‘ve not seen any detailed info, I expect if they use a gas drench system in a machinery space there’s follow up cooling and ventilation before they gain access. It looks like it’s been alongside in the Ferry Port since the incident though, last tracking was inbound on 10 Feb.