More than 300 tourists on board one of Norway’s relatively new electric tourist boats had to be evacuated Tuesday afternoon, after smoke started billowing from a battery room. The cause of the fire that generated all the smoke remained unclear.
State broadcaster NRK reported that the boat, called Future of the Fjords, was sailing in the Aurlandsfjord in Western Norway and immediately headed for a pier at Onstad, where all passengers were evacuated. There were no injuries and the tourists were driven to safety by bus.
Emergency crews were relieved that no one breathed in the smoke. “The potential in such incidents is dramatic,” operations leader Tor Mikkel Tokvam told NRK. “When something like this happens, we take it very seriously.” Battery fires are also difficult to put out, he noted.
The cause of the fire that produced all the smoke remained unclear. The electric boats, which sail quietly, have become popular in Norway and are found on several fjords, also in Oslo. An investigation into the cause of Tuesday’s emergency was underway.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
