On Thursday 16 January 2003, at about 1743, the passenger ferry "Harbour Cat" was proceeding from Birkenhead to Auckland with 3 crew and 2 passengers on board when a fire was discovered in the starboard engine space. The crew extinguished the fire and the ferry continued to the Auckland ferry terminal on its port engine alone.
One of the crew suffered from slight smoke inhalation.
Safety issues identified included:
* access to engine rooms on passenger ferries
* adequacy of procedure and training of ships’ crew in tackling engine space fires.
Safety recommendations were made to the Managing Director of Fullers Group Limited and the Director of Maritime Safety to address the safety issues.
Report includes inquiry 03-201.
