At around 1900 on 16th November a fire broke out aboard the 24,196gt/2000 built Ro-Ro ship Britannia Seaways as she sailed along the Norwegian Coast whilst on charter to the Norwegian Army, taking military equipment from Bergen to Harstad. The vessel had 20 crewmembers and 12 passengers aboard but severe weather conditions prevented any form of evacuation by helicopter.

The ship was west of Floro when the drama unfolded and made for Bergen whilst the fire was being fought aboard. The blaze was brought under control but flared up again in the early hours of the following morning so the ship changed course for Floro. Two vessels with firefighting capabilities were sent to the scene to assist. The source of the fire was a container on the upper deck and the flames were finally extinguished after 1300 on 17th November. The ship then proceeded to Bergen under her own power displaying scorched areas on her hull. Once the ship had been inspected the classification society gave clearance for the ferry to complete her military transport task before going for repairs. The only condition was that goods must not be loaded in the area where the fire occurred.

The Britannia Seaways reached Sørreisa in northern Norway on 26th November before continuing to the shipyard where she arrived at the end of November. The destination was the Fayard Shipyard in Munkebo near Odense, Denmark. During the 17-day visit steel must be replaced on the weather deck plus repairs were required to an electrical room which was subjected to a deflagration and all areas affected by the fire and the high temperatures will need to be repainted. Just days after this sequence of events another DFDS Ro-Ro, the 25,609gt/2008 built Corona Seaways, suffered a fire on board.

The alarm was raised at around 0230 on 4th December while the vessel was en route from Frederica to Copenhagen. Fortunately, there has been no report of any casualties. There were 19 crew members on board as well as 10 passengers. The crew were able to bring the fire under temporary control with the onboard sprinkler system, but the fire flared up again. The ship arrived in the port of Helsingborg at 0700 where the fire was attended by the fire services in Helsingborg who extinguished the blaze. The ship was initially assisted by the Danish sea rescue services, followed by their Swedish counterparts. The fire broke out on the ship’s enclosed main deck and an investigation followed.