Passengers stay cool as ship crew put out fire

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GEORGE TOWN: A small fire in the engine room of a cruise ship homeported here broke out while she was returning to Swettenham Pier after a night at sea.

Leisure World anchored about 1km from the pier while the crew put the fire out at about 7.30am yesterday.

A source said the fire was extinguished in less than an hour but safety protocol prevented the ship from returning to the pier until the cause of the fire and state of the engine were determined.

SuperStar Libra, also homeported in Penang, volunteered two crew boats to ferry Leisure World’s 123 passengers to shore.

Drama on high seas: Smoke billowing from the fire in the cruise ship’s engine room and (above) passengers being transferred to crew boats taking them to shore. 

A passenger took a seven-second video which was uploaded onto YouTube.

Passengers filmed were obviously not in distress and were even smiling with excitement as they boarded the crew boats.