The Coast Guard was notified of a fire onboard a whale watching vessel yesterday afternoon just before three. The Coast Guard dispatched a team of firefighters onboard a helicopter and the ICE-SAR vessel Ásgrímur S. Björnsson sailed out to rendezvous with the vessel.
According to the local news site Vísir 64 passengers were on-board the whale watching vessel Hafsúlan when the fire came up. Crew members had helped all the passengers evacuate the ship, moving them to another vessel before the Coast Guard was notified of the fire. None of the passengers were hurt, and they completed their tour on this second vessel. Two crew members remained on-board to extinguish the fire.
The boat was about ten nautical miles north-west of Reykjavík when the incidence took place.
Hafsúlan, named after the seabird catamaran, was originally built as a ferry in Norway, but came to Iceland as a whale watching boat in 1998. It's capacity is 170 passengers. It is the flagship of the Elding whale watching fleet, and is used both for whale watching and northern lights tours.
The Coast Guard was notified of a fire onboard a whale watching vessel yesterday afternoon just before three. The Coast Guard dispatched a team of firefighters onboard a helicopter and the ICE-SAR vessel Ásgrímur S. Björnsson sailed out to rendezvous with the vessel.
According to the local news site Vísir 64 passengers were on-board the whale watching vessel Hafsúlan when the fire came up. Crew members had helped all the passengers evacuate the ship, moving them to another vessel before the Coast Guard was notified of the fire. None of the passengers were hurt, and they completed their tour on this second vessel. Two crew members remained on-board to extinguish the fire.
The boat was about ten nautical miles north-west of Reykjavík when the incidence took place.
Hafsúlan, named after the seabird catamaran, was originally built as a ferry in Norway, but came to Iceland as a whale watching boat in 1998. It's capacity is 170 passengers. It is the flagship of the Elding whale watching fleet, and is used both for whale watching and northern lights tours.
