Passenger ferry sails to Belgium after blaze

A P&O ferry that caught fire in the North Sea earlier today has resumed its journey to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

A P&O ferry that caught fire in the North Sea earlier today has resumed its journey to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

British emergency services confirmed the fire on the ferry had been put out.

The engines on the Norsea, which was carrying 611 passengers, were restarted around 9 a.m. after drifting in the North Sea following a fire in the engine room during the early hours.

The blaze was extinguished by the ship's own automatic fire system at about 6.30 a.m., just over four hours after it broke out.

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Passengers were taken to the upper deck but no one was evacuated from the vessel. The ferry is expected to arrive at Zeebrugge at about 6 p.m.

The latest emergency comes two-and-a-half-weeks after fire broke out in the vessel's funnel uptake area. Two crew members were injured in that incident. A P&O spokesman said the ship has two engine rooms and the latest fire was in a different room to last month's fire .