A fire broke out Saturday morning, September 28, onboard Olympic Champion ferry in the northwestern Greek port of Igoumenitsa.
Due to the accident, 538 passengers and 79 crew members were evacuated.
The fire started from the garage compartment after the vessel left the port on her way to Venice. Olympic Champion (owned by ANEK LINES) returned to Igoumenitsa and the evacuation started at 08:20 Bulgarian and Greek time. The fire was controlled because the cruiseferry's automatic fire suppression system was immediately activated.
According to the coast guard, the fire had broken out in the vessel’s vehicle hold and had been quickly put out by the crew. Two passengers had been hospitalized, the coast guard said. No other details have been provided.
There has been no report of damages to the 293 vehicles onboard.
The 32,640-ton, 1,800-passenger ship was sailing from the Greek port of Patra and heading for Venice, Italy, authorities revealed.