POOR on-shore co- ordination and defects in on-board equipment meant passengers had to wait for up to 20 hours before being able to get off a ferry after a fire broke out, according to an accident report.
The roll-on, roll-off ferry Commodore Clipper was close to Portsmouth harbour when the fire started on the main vehicle deck on a crossing from Jersey.
But berthing at Portsmouth was “significantly delayed through ineffective co-ordination between shore agencies and because of equipment defects”, the report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said.
The report went on: “The last of the 62 passengers disembarked from the vessel nearly 20 hours after the fire started.”
The incident happened at 2.42am on June 16 last year. No-one was injured.
