A fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday, November 12, in the engine room of the Finnwave (IMO: 9468932) in the English Channel, approximately 11 nautical miles southeast of Eastbourne, England. The 217.5-meter-long, 14509-dwt Finnish-flag Ro-Ro cargo vessel was bound to Zeebrugge from Rosslare when the fire broke out. The crew sent out a distress call with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) responding.

The crew was able to extinguish the fire without reported injuries, but was unable to restart the engine following the fire.  The ship’s crew was aided by a rescue boat from the RNLI Eastbourne station. The lifeboat arrived on scene and stood by while the Finnwave dropped anchor. 

Once Finnwave‘s anchor was secured, the Solent Coastguard cleared the RNLI rescue boat to return to base. No pollution or further damage has been reported, but an investigation into the cause of the engine fire is underway.