Update: Fire Aboard Spanish Ferry Contained

Spanish maritime services managed to extinguish the fire which had been burning aboard the car ferry Sorrento since Monday afternoon, Salvamento Maritimo reports.

The ferry is currently located some 18 nautical miles off Dragonera, the Balearic Islands.

The surveyors are on scene, and the towing operations are expected to start today. Several aerial surveys were conducted yesterday, reporting no visible oil spills.

As World Maritime News reported earlier, Spanish emergency services rescued 156 passengers and crew from the burning ferry some 20 nautical miles off Palma de Mallorca on Monday.

The Sorrento ferry was en route from Palma de Mallorca to Valencia when a fire was detected in one of its decks at around 13:50 local time.

Four of the crew members who did not manage to reach the evacuation zone were airlifted and taken to a hospital in Palma de Mallorca where they were cleared from any injuries.

The remaining passengers and crew were transferred to lifeboats.

Salvamento Maritimo contacted the passing ferry Puglia and coordinated the transfer of the passengers and the crew from the lifeboats onto the Balearia Puglia-operated ferry which took them back to Palma de Mallorca.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, the ferry operator Trasmediterranea said.

World Maritime News Staff; Image: Salvamento Maritimo