Cargo ship suffers onboard fire off UK's Isle of Wight

A freight-only Ro-Ro vessel operated by Danish shipping company DFDS suffered an onboard fire while off the Isle of Wight in the UK on Monday, February 9.

The UK-flagged Caesarea Trader was en route to Portsmouth after having earlier departed St Helier in Jersey when a blaze ignited in her engine room at around 15:45 local time on Monday.

The crew immediately initiated firefighting efforts and sent out a distress call, which was duly received by HM Coastguard. A coastguard helicopter with thermal imaging sensors and a rescue boat from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were then deployed to the area to assess the situation.