STOCKHOLM — A fire was reported Monday on a passenger ferry carrying about 300 people from Sweden to Latvia, but officials said it was “limited” and had been extinguished. Is not …
The ferry was north of Sweden’s Baltic island of Gotland when the fire broke out. No one was evacuated, but one of the ferries said passengers had gathered on the upper deck.
Swedish ferry company Stena Line said 241 passengers and 58 crew were on board the Stena Scandica, which was traveling from Nynashamn, Sweden, to Ventspils, Latvia.
The ship will be towed to Nynashamn with all passengers, according to Swedish news agency TT, said Lisa Mjornning of the Swedish Maritime Authority.
As a precautionary measure, seven nearby ships and three helicopters were dispatched to the scene.
Earlier in the day, Stefan Elfström, a spokesperson for Stena Line, told Swedish broadcaster SVT that the company had been informed of the fire “on a limited scale” and no injuries had been reported.
Norwegian newspaper VG quoted passenger Giedrius Didoras as saying that all passengers had gathered on the second deck.
“The ferry has stopped,” he said. “I can’t see the flames, but I can see smoke coming from both sides of the ferry.”
The Gothenburg, Sweden-based ferry company is one of the largest ferry operators in the world, with 38 ships making more than 25,000 trips a year. Across Europe she has 4,300 employees.
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