Fire On Board Calypso Cruise Ship

[Single Cruiser]

A fire has broken out in the engine room of the Calypso cruise ship in the English channel. Well I guess this one can't be smoking related!

 

Early press release @ http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-press-releases?id=D95F93C231BEA9EE&m=5&y=2006

[DutsCruiser]

It's in every news bulletin here. I haven't seen any images or anything but I guess this must be frightning. I haven't heard of any casualties... lets hope it stays this way.

 

I heard many of the passengers are dutch; this wil definitly be bad for the dutch cruisemarket (which isn't all that big already). The cruise industry isn't having its best year.

[little britain]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4979538.stm

 

They lowered the life boats but didn't need to evacuate.

[MJ0000]

Any further information about the incident?

Serious or :confused:

Can anyone give some comments?:confused:

[DutsCruiser]

What I heard on the news was that all but 8 passengers where dutch. None of the passengers or crew was injured. The ship however was not that lucky; it had to be towed to land because the engines where to damaged by the fire (that started in the engine room). All the passengers where flown to Rotterdam Airport and returned home from there.

[Brian Raine]

We returned to Southampton on Friday morning from the Carribean aboard the Braemer to see the Calypso moored at "our" berth. We were told that the fire had occurred at sea on Thursday and the ship was towed to Southampton. All passengers were transferred by air back to Holland Thursday/Friday using chartered aircraft.

[DonnaC1]

My mom was booked to go on the Calypso ship to Norway starting on June 27 (I think). She just received word from her TA that this cruise (and the one just before it) have been cancelled as repairs to the ship are taking longer than expected. She is sooooo disappointed! I know she will get a full refund for her cruise but she is probably going to be out-of-pocket on her airfare because it was booked separately. Does anyone have any advice on what she can do about the airfare? Any experience with the cruise companies helping out with reimbursing for other losses caused by the cruise cancellation? I'd like to find out some positive information to pass along to her.

 

Thanks!

Donna

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Is there an alternate cruise she can take from the same port she was flying to during the same period? It would be a shame to cancel the airline tickets if she could just hop on another cruise.

 

BobK/Orlando

[LHT28]

My mom was booked to go on the Calypso ship to Norway starting on June 27 (I think). She just received word from her TA that this cruise (and the one just before it) have been cancelled as repairs to the ship are taking longer than expected. She is sooooo disappointed! I know she will get a full refund for her cruise but she is probably going to be out-of-pocket on her airfare because it was booked separately. Does anyone have any advice on what she can do about the airfare? Any experience with the cruise companies helping out with reimbursing for other losses caused by the cruise cancellation? I'd like to find out some positive information to pass along to her.

 

Thanks!

Donna

 

Princess was reimbursing for air fare (I think) when their ship had a fire but get her TA to check with cruiseline .

Hopefully she bought trip cancellation insurance ...it should be covered.

 

A good suggestion though if she can find another cruise for the same time frame as her air would be good.

[DonnaC1]

Thanks for the responses! I'll pass your suggestions on to my Mom. I think her TA is already checking with the cruiseline, but it's nice to hear that Princess did the same thing for passengers, so maybe there's hope.

 

Donna

[MMSmith]

Any update information??? Will the ship get back to work soon???:confused: :confused:

[MMSmith]

Fire on Board MV Calypso

A Report by John Ticehurst, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service

At 0354 hours on 6 May 2006 East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service were requested by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to respond to a Mayday call from the MV Calypso in the English Channel reporting a severe fire in the Engine Room. The MV Calypso is an 11,162 tonne cruise ship built in 1968 and of Greek Cypriot ownership. The vessel underwent a refit earlier in 2006 and has a maximum capacity of 596 passengers and 250 crew.

On the day of the fire the vessel had been chartered by a Dutch Travel Company and was in transit from Tilbury in Essex to St Peter Port in Guernsey. On board were 462 mainly Dutch passengers and 246 crew of mixed nationality. At approximately 0240 hours a fire occurred involving the starboard engine leading to the activation of the ships fire alarm system. Whilst the ship’s crew investigated the fire alarm activation those passengers that were asleep in their cabins commenced preparations for evacuation in accordance with the ships procedures.

Information received from the Engine Room indicated a severe and developing fire and as a result the crew immediately shut down both of the ship’s engines and all electrical generators. Realising the seriousness of the situation the crew decided to seal the engine compartment and to utilise the ship’s fixed installations in order to tackle the fire. Once the compartment was sealed the entire contents of the Carbon Dioxide fire fighting system were discharged into the space in the hope that it would bring the fire under control. A water sprinkler system was also activated to initiate cooling within the compartment. At the same time all passengers were instructed to go to their muster stations and don lifejackets in preparation to abandon ship. As the situation deteriorated the ship’s lifeboats were lowered to deck level and the passengers moved to the lifeboat stations to further reduce any delay in leaving the vessel. The coordination of incidents such as this falls to Her Majesty’s Coastguard which is a department of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). All calls for assistance from vessels in distress in UK waters are received in their Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC). On this occasion the call was received at the Dover RCC requesting Firefighting assistance

HM Coastguard immediately implemented the mobilisation of the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG). The MIRG is a multi-agency response to incidents at sea that occur around the coast of the United Kingdom. The group which comprises 15 Fire and Rescue Services, seven Ambulance Services and HM Coastguard was formally launched on 1 April 2006 as the culmination of a three year project called the “Sea of Change”. The strategy developed by the project has produced a robust and sustainable response to any incident that may occur in and around our 12000 miles of coastal waters. East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service are one of the identified Fire and Rescue Services that make up this provision. When the Mayday call was received from the MV Calypso reporting its position as 20 miles south of Eastbourne the Coastguard immediately tasked East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service as the incident was within its notional boundary. At the same time the Coastguard Helicopter (India Juliet) based at Lee-on-Solent was scrambled to transport the firefighting team to the vessel. The ESFRS Maritime Team was mobilised to respond with the pre-determined equipment to the Helicopter Rendezvous Point (RV) at Tidemills, Newhaven. The Senior Fire Officer in attendance, Group Commander John Ticehurst, assumed the Role of Operations Commander and due to the information being received from the scene assembled two teams of nine personnel to provide the initial response to the vessel. This had to be achieved by a number of flights from the RV point to the vessel due to the carrying capacity of the helicopter. The Operations Commander arrived at the Calypso at 0530 hours and was winched onto the aft deck of the vessel. On arrival he was confronted with the concerned passengers waiting at the lifeboat stations unsure whether it would be necessary for them to abandon the ship. At this time there were four RNLI Lifeboats, three French Lifeboats, two cargo vessels and a Passenger Ferry standing off the incident ready to assist the passengers if necessary. A short time later the MV Watchful (Sussex Sea Fisheries Vessel) also arrived on scene as a Safety Support Vessel for the firefighters in accordance with a Service Level Agreement between the two authorities. The Operations Commander quickly made his way to the Bridge to liaise with the Master of the vessel Capt. Uakondios Dimitrious and a situation report was obtained. At that time the Captain reported that his crews had now entered the engine room and they were saying that the fire was out. Whilst awaiting the arrival of the remaining team members the Operations Commander carried out a Dynamic Risk Assessment of the situation during which he gathered the following information from the Master and the Chief Engineer:-

· He established that there were 708 persons on board and that all had been accounted for. He was also informed that no persons had sustained any injury.

· The fire had involved the starboard engine and that both engines and the electrical generators had been shut down.

· The entire contents of the Carbon Dioxide Fixed Installation had been discharged and there was no extinguishing media remaining.

· The sprinkler system had operated for a period of time but this had now been closed down.

· The ships firefighting pumps were operating and the ship’s crew had entered the Engine Room with hand held firefighting branches and were reporting that the fire was out.

· The amount of water used had been minimal and there were no stability issues with the vessel.

· Although the vessel was drifting without power in the Channel its movement was being continuously monitored and it would be many hours before it reached a position where the safety of the ship would be compromised.

Whilst the Risk Assessment was being completed a further helicopter flight arrived delivering the remainder of the Firefighting team and a Coastguard Liaison Officer to the vessel. The Coastguard Liaison Officer reported directly to the Bridge and took over the Communications between the Ship and the RCC. This was extremely useful in relieving this task from the Operations Commander. Having completed his Risk Assessment and following some further discussions with the Captain it was agreed that firefighters should enter the Engine Room taking with them a Thermal Imaging Camera to confirm that the fire was out. Utilising that equipment coupled with their experience of firefighting they discovered that some areas of the pipe lagging were still smouldering and deployed water spray branches to bring them under control. On withdrawing from the Engine Room firefighters were now able to confirm that the fire was fully extinguished.Although the Operations Commander was satisfied the fire was out he implemented regular inspections of the Fire Compartment to monitor conditions and requested that the vessel be brought alongside in a harbour so that land based crews could carry out further inspections prior to the Incident being formally closed. Whilst these operations were progressing a final Helicopter flight winched six Sussex Ambulance Service Paramedics and a Coastguard Marine Surveyor onto the Calypso completing the multi-agency presence on the vessel. Although there were still no reports of injuries the Paramedics circulated amongst the passengers to check on their well being and to offer advice regarding medication for pre-existing conditions. Once it had been agreed that the vessel should be brought alongside discussions took place to identify the most suitable Port for this purpose and also the means of moving the vessel to that location. Consideration was given to attempting to start the Port Engine and using that to take the vessel into harbour. However due to the damage to cabelling and pipe work and the amount of fuel present in the Engine Room this was ruled out as an option.

It was therefore decided that the vessel should be taken under tow by the Coastguard Emergency Towing Vessel, Anglian Monarch and that it would be taken into Southampton Harbour. Once underway the tow was maintained at just over 10 knots and the Calypso was finally docked at 2000 hours, nearly 18 hours after the fire broke out. Throughout the transit the regular inspection regime was maintained with conditions in the fire compartment found to be improving on each occasion. Accompanied by Firefighters the Marine Surveyor inspected the Engine Room to assess the extent of the damage after which hisinitial consideration was that the likely cause of the Fire was a Crank-case Explosion causing a release of a large quantity of Fuel Oil. As the vessel came alongside in Southampton the Incident was handed over to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service for a final inspection. The passengers were disembarked and transferred to local hotels prior to being flown home to Holland. This incident was the first to be attended under the new Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) arrangements launched just over a month ago and clearly demonstrated the tremendous benefits that this National multi-agency facility will provide to those people who maybe unfortunate enough to find themselves in distress on the waters that fall within the United Kingdom Search and Rescue Region.

[Druke I]

Thanks for posting that report - very interesting.

[MMSmith]

Fire damage to the engine? The incident is now under full investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, United Kingdom :)

When will the report be available to the public :confused: :confused: :confused:

[MMSmith]

Any new information about the ship?

[MMSmith]

Will the ship get back to serve? When? :confused: :confused: :confused: