Passengers and crew members had to evacuated from a cruise ship after a fire broke out earlier this morning near Cape Dolphin, just to the north of the Falkland Islands.
The private cruise vessel Le Boréal was carrying 347 passengers and crew members at the time of the fire. Ninety of them were air lifted from life rafts and 257 were transferred to another ship. There was no reported injuries to any of the passengers or crew.
The ship was traveling to South Georgia from Grave Cove at the time of the fire. The cruise line issued a statement saying that all passengers were evacuated as a precaution. The cause of the fire is not yet known. The reminder of the cruise has been canceled and the passengers will re-embark on L’Austral, a ship also owned and operated by Ponant Yacht Cruises and Expeditions.
Le Boréal is a 264 passenger cruise ship owned by the French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant. The 11,000 gross ton ship entered service in 2010 and has 132 cabins and suites.
Photo credit: Christian Bickel fingalo – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 de via Commons
