Three lifeboats have been scrambled from Kent to a ferry in the English Channel after a fire broke out on board.

The Isle of Innisfree was around halfway across the Channel when the blaze broke out in the engine room.

There were 183 people on board in total – 94 passengers and 89 crew members. Everyone is safe and accounted for.

A French tug boat has also been despatched to the scene.

A spokesman for Irish Ferries said: “Irish Ferries can confirm that this evening, the crew on board its ship the Isle of Innisfree were alerted to a small fire in the ship’s engine room while the ship was sailing from Dover to Calais.

“Irish Ferries crews train regularly to deal with incidents at sea, and the company has put its training into action and the fire has been extinguished.

“The Coastguard has been informed and despatched 3 RNLI lifeboats as a precautionary measure.

Boris Johnson believed ‘implicitly’ he was following COVID rules during lockdown gatherings

COVID rule breaches at Downing St parties would have been ‘obvious’ to Johnson – MP committee

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon in court charged with manslaughter of baby girl as post-mortem unable to establish cause of death

“The vessel is currently safely at anchor, and as the situation is stable, no emergency assistance is expected to be required.”

HM Coastguard said it “was alerted just after 17:30 today (3 March) to a fire in the engine room of a ferry that was mid-way from Dover to Calais.”

It continued: “The vessel has confirmed that the fire has been extinguished, but it is experiencing technical issues.

“The incident is ongoing.”

Related posts:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: Four-day bank holiday, star-studded concert and pageant announced ‘Enough is enough’: National Trust members vote to ban trail hunting ‘Wild start’ to Sunday: Weather warnings issued for parts of England, Scotland and Wales as strong gusts forecast ‘Respect the rules’ Macron tells Johnson as pair meet over fishing row COP26: Severe weather causes rail chaos between London and Glasgow on first day of climate summit CCTV captures moment drunk woman drives onto railway line and sends up sparks as car hits live track Three convicted of murdering father-of-two Gary Jenkins in Cardiff park Woman arrested in connection with murder as billionaire playboy who fled London urged to return Vladimir Putin told he is barred from UK pub Criminal offence for any Russian plane to enter UK airspace, says transport secretary 14-year-old boy who murdered five-year-old Logan Mwangi named as judge lifts anonymity order Third man arrested on suspicion of murder over missing student nurse