Cruise liner off England coast catches fire

May 6, 2006

A cruise ship caught fire 32 km (20 miles) off the southeast coast of England. The blaze started in the engine-room of the Calypso, which had 708 passengers and crew onboard.

The passengers were mainly Dutch.

Specialist firefighters transported by helicopter from the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service tackled the fire.

It was tugged to Southampton by the Anglican Monarch, a tug boat jointly operated by England and France. The relieved passengers left to boat 16 hours after the fire started.

"A team will be going onboard to assess the situation, so time will tell," said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman.

There were no causualties and no evacuation.