A fire broke out in the engine room of the Faroe Islands-flagged cargo vessel Skipanes on September 2, while the ship was approximately 20 nautical miles off Taiwan.
All 23 crew members on board were reported safe, with no injuries announced following the incident.
After the fire, the vessel was returned to the CIMC Raffles Offshore Limited shipyard in China for inspection and a detailed technical assessment.
Skipanes had only recently entered service. The vessel was delivered on August 25 and departed the shipyard on August 28, heading for Port Louis, Mauritius, before the incident occurred.
Following the inspection and any necessary repairs, the ship is expected to enter commercial service.
Skipanes is the first of two new Ro-Ro vessels ordered by Smyril Line as part of the company’s fleet renewal programme.
The new ships are intended to strengthen freight capacity within the Faroe Islands’ North Atlantic transport network. Together, the programme is expected to add approximately 3,300 lane metres of cargo capacity.
Skipanes measures around 190 metres in length and 27 metres in width and has been designed primarily for the transportation of rolling cargo.
The incident occurred only days after the vessel left the shipyard, making the upcoming technical inspection particularly important in determining the cause of the engine room fire and assessing whether any major systems were damaged.
Further details regarding the cause of the fire and the expected date of Skipanes’ return to service have not yet been announced.
