Passengers jostle to get off Waiheke ferry after fire

By JULIET ROWAN

Passengers have described the scene when more than 300 people were rescued after a fire broke out on a Fullers ferry travelling between Waiheke Island and Auckland last night.

They reported seeing smoke billowing from an engine room on the lower deck as they waited anxiously to board three other Fullers boats called to evacuate the stranded Superflyte ferry.

The fire started at 5.20pm, 20 minutes after the ferry left Waiheke with 311 passengers and six crew on board.

Everyone was accounted for last night.

Passengers first realised something was wrong when an alarm sounded as the boat passed Motuihe Island.

Shortly afterwards, the captain announced that there was a fire on board.

Everyone was asked to put lifejackets on and wait to be evacuated.

Six coastguard vessels oversaw the rescue, while firefighters assisted crew in putting out the fire.

The cause of the blaze was thought to be an electrical fault, Fullers said last night.

Maritime Safety Authority officers would investigate.

Apart from one boy who injured his leg as he left the ferry, no one was hurt, the company said.

Aimee Sargent, 19, speaking from the ferry as she waited to be rescued, said the fire was frightening.

"A lot of people are finding it hard to breathe," the Torbay resident said.

People were jostling to get to the front of queues waiting to board rescue boats. "Everyone's pushing their way through," she said.

Richard Melville, speaking later from a rescue boat, said that apart from some upset children, the atmosphere was calm.

He praised the crew. "They went about their business in an orderly manner."

Two ambulances waited at the Auckland wharf as a precautionary measure. Anxious family and friends also waited.

The first people from the stricken ferry arrived at the wharf about 6.20pm.