The Juneau Empire is reporting that Holland America Line’s ms Noordam came to the aid of a tour boat that became disabled due to a fire in the engine room.
According to park officials, the 79 foot sightseeing boat Baranof Wind was in Glacier Bay National Park when a fire broke out in the starboard engine. The crew quickly extinguished the fire and called for assistance.
The ms Noordam was in the area and sent a tender over to the disabled boat to pick up the 40 passengers and a Park Service ranger. The tender dropped the passengers off at Barlett Cove before continuing on schedule to Ketchikan, Alaska. The Baranof Wind was towed to Juneau for repairs.
The ms Noordam was on a seven night roundtrip Alaskan night cruise out of Vancouver, Canada with port stops in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. The 82,500 gross ton ship went into service in 2006 and can hold nearly 2,000 passengers.
HAL has a way of being there for others, case in point, after the hurricane in Cabo St.Lucus HAL did not cancel our port of call but sent ship crew ashore to donate a day of help where needed. Another time first in recent years to start anchoring off Fanning Island and bringing donated necessities for the islanders.