Almost 1,000 passengers and crew were evacuated from a Greek ferry early this morning after a fire broke out onboard at mid-sea.
The evacuation was completed safely at Piraeus harbor without any casualties, said ANEK Lines, owner of the 38,300-gt El. Venizelos (built 1992) on which the incident took place.
The fire broke out just before midnight on the ship’s car deck in a hold for commercial trucks as the vessel was en route from Piraeus to Crete.
The flames were immediately put under control and the ship returned under its own steam to Piraeus, ANEK said in the statement.
All passengers are safe, according to the company. Evacuees told Greek state television they got off board in orderly manner.
Firemen, however, were still battling to fully extinguish the fire on Wednesday morning and cars were still trapped within the ship.
The incident brings to mind the ANEK-chartered 26,904-gt Norman Atlantic (built 2009), on which a devastating fire broke out as it was sailing in the Adriatic Sea in the Christmas of 2014, causing nine deaths.
