Passengers on board donned life-jackets as they waited nervously for the outcome. Picture: Nick Maestrani
PASSENGERS onboard a Condor ferry which caught fire in the English Channel were finally allowed to disembark last night – more than 24 hours after their nightmare journey began.
The Commodore Clipper had to be pulled into Portsmouth Harbour after a blaze broke out in the lower vehicle deck at about 3 am yesterday.
All 62 passengers escaped unharmed but a number of freight vehicles – including four carrying Jersey Royals – were destroyed.
The ferry, which left Jersey at 9 pm on Tuesday, was met at the harbour by firefighters from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Crews spent more than 14 hours trying to bring pockets of fire under control and clearing the deck of smoke.
Passengers were forced to stay onboard the stricken vessel as the exit route would have taken them through the affected area.
Article posted on 17th June, 2010 - 3.00pm
17 Article Comments
Always liked my spuds roasted anyway!
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I am confused, in the picture they are in the bar area. There is a door at the rear which leads to the outer deck area where the lifeboats are!!! How was this route blocked when it is outside and the fire was in the lower ccar deck not the upper!!
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I’m sure someone will tell me I am being foolish, but why aren’t the crew trained to put fires out?
I realise sprinklers won’t work on petrol fires, but maybe the ship should be able to fill the car deck with CO2 in situations like this.
I don’t know how far the ship was from land when the fire broke out, but it must be absolutely terrifying for the passengers to be kept inside a burning ship.
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Please tell me the ship is a wright off so they can buy a decent ship that has better facilities on board and buy a cruise ferry instead. My god that ferry is so boring on board nothing but a cafe, small bar ,and no seating. We want entertainment, plush lounges etc on such a long journey, liven it up!Remember the Rozel, Beauport? decent but old steamers.
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I won’t be taking my family on Condor again until I hear that they have drastically improved their ability to deal with fires like this.
It’s just as well they were able to get to Portsmouth or it could’ve been disastrous; I mean, what if they had been stuck in the middle of the Channel in rough seas?
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Mjolnir de Jersiaise, they would have assessd the problem and the specialised offshore firefighters from either Jersey, Guernsey or as it was Hamphire Fire Service would be transfered by helicopter or another vessel to deal with the situation.
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Sounds like an appallingly designed ship if there is only one exit route for passengers and it is through the vehicle deck which is near sea-level and the most likely to catch fire with all those cars and trucks. Can this be possible, and if it is the case how can such a vessel be allowed to carry passengers? Even public places on land, such as supermarkets and cinemas must have multiple exits.
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im glad everyone is safe after the fire.yes the owners of condor need to update this ferry,i also remember the old boats.it was lovely to see a movie onboard and entertainment for children.if they buy a new ship lets hope they dont put prices up again.the prices of the cabins night crossings are too expensive.how can they justify this.they tell you that you recieve a complementry breakfast,not everyone wants a breakfast at that time of morning.in my books complemntry is free but its a very expensive breakfast as the price for cabins have risen over £40 in a couple of years or so.this since condor were bought by the isle of man styeam packet company.since april they have gone up again both day and night by £4.95.im due over on this ship in october.the cabin is dearer then my fare.its time they had abit of competition.no wonder jersey people find it hard to get off the island for a break.costs of airfare and sailing are way to high.im not just a 1 off visitor i travel to the island every year,twice a year since 1988 for 3wks each time.
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‘I won’t be taking my family on Condor again until I hear that they have drastically improved their ability to deal with fires like this.’
I take it you do not fancy a mass Viking funeral in mid Channel mon vie
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The Clipper is an excellent Ferry and works well on the short crossings she was designed to operate. She is a functional lorry/car ferry and NOT a luxury cruise ship. I well remember the Rozel/Beauport plus the dear old Solidor and personally given a similar incident aboard I know what ferry I’d rather be on. Give me the Clipper ANYTIME,
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I agree with Ron, the Clipper is an excellent ship which I have travelled on many times. This incident was stated by a fault with an item of Cargo, rather than the ship its self.
If it had been serious, they would have evacuated the ship using slides and life rafts. This clearly was not necessary, and as the majority of passengers were acompanying vehicles, I can understand why there was no rush to get off the ship.
The ignorance of people who take any opportunity of criticising this company is shameful. I will be taking 5 return trips with this company this year, and I have absolutely no issue with the fares charged, or the level of service offered on board.
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Don’t knock Condor until you understand the issues about the fire. I personally would be happier to stay until I could get off safely than use a slide / lifeboat. The only time to abandon ship is if you need to step UP to your life raft. Far safer to stay on board.
Then they put everyone up in a hotel when they got ashore.
And I remember that 10 years ago paying about £500 to take a car and family to France in August on the Emmerald.
Never thought that I would say it but I am a Condor convert.
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Don’t I remember an exercise involving airlifting the fire brigade onto the Clipper to deal with a simulated lorry fire.
And if I remember correctly wasn’t it taking place as news of the destruction of the WTC began to reach us on this side of the Atlantic?
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R B Bougourd, yes you are right. Good exercise, terrible day.
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Hmm. It still says that a number of freight vehicles were destroyed, so the fire must have been pretty fierce.
The ‘wait for the fire brigade’ attitude is all very well if you are on dry land, but seems incredibly risky if miles from land.
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Surely 62 people are more important than potatoes, however many of the latter there were! When the fire was detected and it proved impossible to extinguish it during the voyage, then the lifeboats should have been launched and the passengers taken off the Clipper as a precaution, because isn’t there a risk of an explosion on a ship carrying many vehicles with large tanks full of petrol? Surely there should be a gate in the railing along each side of the ship which could allow a gangway to be connected to the small area of deck outside the restaurant on each side, so that should such a situation arise again the passengers could disembark once the stricken ship had been towed into Portsmouth harbour? It seems incredible that people could be trapped in such a dangerous position with no means of escape for a further ten hours before being released. In fact I think it must be against the law. I will not be happy to travel on the Clipper again, and the fast ferries often do not go in the winter when the weather is too bad
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@WarrenJ
“…and as the majority of passengers were acompanying vehicles, I can understand why there was no rush to get off the ship.”
Funny comment indeed to make. If I had have happened to be onboard when there was a fire and had the chance to leave as soon as possible I would have done so,irrespective if one had a vehicle onboard.
A fire creates the three most hazardous conditions to a ship, heat for spreading the fire unless you have solid “boundary cooling”, poisonous smoke\gas and water used to extinguish the fire but also assisting in making the ship unstable. It isn’t fun – trust me.
Whilst the general public have not been given the full details of the incident one cannot comment further on decisions made at that time.
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