A small fire broke out in the engine room of a tour boat in the Biesbosch on Tuesday afternoon. 225 passengers had to be evacuated. Because the ship is moored in the middle of the water of the Biesbosch, all passengers had to be brought to the home port in Drimmelen by two boats. No one was injured.
During the fire, the ship moored in a work harbor near Drimmelen. The evacuation proceeded ‘quietly and in a controlled manner’, reports the fire brigade. The ship is owned by the Zilvermeeuw cruise company. Adriaan Schuller, director of the company, says that everything went smoothly.
“We had guests from De Zonnebloem on board. They are less mobile and use wheelchairs and scooters. But there was little panic. There were no flames to be seen and there was only a little bit of smoke,” says Schuller.
Skipper was also a firefighter
The fire has now been extinguished. One of the two generators had caught fire, reports the Safety Region. When that was discovered, the engine room was immediately closed and everyone evacuated. Only then was the fire extinguished.
“It all ended well,” said the director. “We were lucky with the location where it happened. We could go straight to the work harbor here. We were also lucky that our skipper was also a firefighter.”
‘That’s how you experience something’
One of the passengers says she saw smoke and smelled a burning smell. “It was a bit of a shock, but the evacuation went very quietly and neatly. I can’t walk very well so that was a bit of a hassle. But there was no panic. Not at all.”
An older man says he liked it. “It was exciting. I’m not that young anymore. That way you can experience something.”
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In addition to the fire brigade, Rijkswaterstaat and the KNRM (Royal Dutch Rescue Company) had also set sail.
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