The fatal fire on board a Hurtigruten ship yesterday will cause the vessel to be out of action for at least a month.
Hurtigruten has confirmed that two crew members were killed and four others remain in hospital following the blaze on board Ms Nordlys shortly before the ship was due to arrive into Ålesund in Norway.
The cause of the fire remains unknown at this stage, according to Hurtigruten. Water leakage was detected and pumps were started to ensure no further damage, the company said.
The ship was sailing northbound from Bergen with 207 passengers and a crew of 55 on board when the fire was detected. Nordlys is now docked in Ålesund.
The company said it had multi-lingual representatives in Ålesund to support passengers. Hurtigruten chief executive Olav Fjell travelled immediately to the incident when the extent of the accident was known.
Fjell said: “This is a tragedy and the worst possible situation. We are in mourning, but working as hard as possible to follow up the next of kin, the injured, their families and other employees in the best way possible.”
Hurtigruten said it anticipated Ms Nordlys would be out of service until mid-October.