A huge fire that broke out in the engine room of the Pride of Canterbury cross-Channel P&O ferry carrying more than 300 passengers and 119 crew was extinguished by sprinklers in 20 minutes.
The ferry, which plies the route between Dover in the UK and Calais in northern France, was just short of docking in Calais at the end of a journey when the fire broke out emitting thick toxic fumes and plumes of smoke.
A spokesperson for P&O is reported as saying that nobody was injured in the fire and that a thorough investigation would be carried out to find the fire’s cause. Thanks to the effectiveness of the sprinkler installation in the engine room, damage was restricted mainly to smoke damage in the engine room itself.
