Attica Ferries said the fire started at 08:57 local time while the vessel was on its scheduled service. The crew immediately activated the ship's safety procedures and tried to put out the fire using the vessel's own equipment. The relevant authorities were notified. The crew then carried out an organised evacuation using the ship's own means, in line with established procedures. The company said it would give further updates.

According to Greek media, the fire started in the ship's number four garage and a lorry is being investigated as the possible source. BLUE CARRIER 2 was reportedly carrying 166 lorries and 29 cars. She had left Piraeus on Thursday evening and called at Syros early on Friday morning. The Hellenic Coast Guard took all 29 people off the vessel shortly after 11:00 and brought them to Tinos.

Four Coast Guard patrol boats and one Coast Guard patrol vessel responded to the fire. So did two fast fire boats from Syros and Lavrio, a firefighting vessel, two tugs and several private vessels. The 70-metre salvage tug AIGAION PELAGOS, which has firefighting capability, was sent from Piraeus.

BLUE CARRIER 2 (23,986 GT, 2,307 lane metres) was built by Kawasaki in Japan in 1997 as CLEMENTINE. Attica Group bought her from CLdN in March 2023 for EUR 13.4 million and chartered her back until the end of that year. She was renamed BLUE CARRIER 2 in January 2024 and has since been used in Greek domestic freight service under the Blue Star Ferries brand.

© Shippax