Fire started in electrical locker on passenger cruise ship Saga Rose

Location: Undergoing a refit at Southampton Docks, England.

• From: Marine Accident Investigation Branch
• Published: 23 January 2015

• Vessel type: Merchant vessel 100 gross tons or over
• Report type: Investigation report
• Date of occurrence: 14 December 1997

Accident Investigation Report: Saga Rose

Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken and subsequent recommendations:

saga rose.pdf (715.10 kb)

Summary

Saga Rose, a 24,474 gt passenger vessel had been undergoing the second half of an extensive refit in A&P‘s King George V dry-dock, Southampton. The vessel had been in refit since late October 1997 and at the time of the fire was in the “flooded” dry-dock. Some 300 shore workers and 350 crew were on board when fire broke out in an electrical locker beneath the master’s cabin. The fire was discovered at 1350 on Sunday 14 December 1997, the general alarm was sounded, non-essential persons evacuated and the ship’s firefighting teams mobilised. The shipyard and Hampshire Fire Brigade were informed and their fire teams attended.

Safety Issues

• there was a fault on a secondary electric cable connected to one of the transformers in an electrical locker room

Recommendations

No recommendations have been made as a result of our investigation.

This report was published on 25 October 1999.

Published 23 January 2015