Cruise Ship Catches Fire in English Channel

A fire broke out aboard a Cyprus-registered cruise ship in the English Channel in the early hour of this morning. The blaze started at 3.47am on board the Calypso near Beachy Head. Firefighters flew out to the ship, which was carrying 708 people, and put out the blaze by 6am. No casualties were reported and the cause of the fire is not known. Len Richards, deputy chief fire officer of East Sussex Fire Service, said: "The ship's crew used the fixed installations on board the vessel to initially attack the fire. "The fire was contained to the port engine and the engine room area itself." Of the 708 people on board the Cyprus-registered ship, 462 were passengers and 246 crew. A six-strong fire team for the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) was helicoptered on to the vessel to investigate the fire.The CALYPSO Cruise Ship