Fire breaks out in Lyonesse Lady engine room
A fire broke out in the engine room of the Lyonesse Lady this morning.
Harbourmaster Dale Clark said he received a call at around 9.30am from skipper Pete Hicks saying he was making his way back into the harbour after a fire started in the starboard engine.
Dale told This is Scilly: "The fire had been put out and he was coming back on one engine. When I got down to the harbour the boat was alongside. The crew had completely shut down the engine room and activated the fire fighting compound to extinguish the fire.
"Pete had already asked for help from the Gry Maritha, which was in the harbour, and their crew had come down with their fire fighting gear on."
The local fire department was also called and the quay was shut down for a small amount of time while they took over investigating. They "looked for hot spots on the deck and determined if the fire was out" using a thermal imaging camera and temperature markers.
When they were happy that the fire was out, the vessel was moved from an inner to an outer berth in order for her freight to be discharged, then moved to the end of the quay for the fire crews to continue investigating and vent the engine room space.
The Scillonian arrived at around noon, after which the Lyonesse Lady was towed back on to her mooring. The Falcon has been drafted in to help with off-island freight while investigations into the cause of the fire continue.
Dale praised the skipper and crew of the Lyonesse Lady, as well as relief skipper Andy Smethhurst, saying they did a "fantastic job" of dealing with the fire.
The Lyonesse Lady is owned by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and delivers freight between the islands.
A Steamship Company spokesman earlier told This is Scilly: “There was a small fire on board the Lyonesse Lady this morning which was quickly extinguished by the crew and thankfully there were no injuries.
"The vessel is currently alongside at St Mary’s Harbour awaiting inspection and in the meantime we have made arrangements for relief vessels to deliver chilled and perishable goods to the off-islands.”
Thanks to Dale and Fran Clark for the photos.