Roll-on Roll-off (Ro-Ro) cargo vessel 'Finnwave' (IMO: 9468932) on Wednesday suffered an engine room fire, which led to it losing power at sea, just about 10.4 NM (19.3km) away from the coast of Eastbourne, in the United Kingdom.
The fire reportedly broke out in the early hours of Wednesday (GMT time zone), at which time the Finnish-flagged vessel's crew issued a distress signal.
The crew of the Finnwave were soon aided by a rescue boat from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) Eastbourne station, at which time moderate tide and strong breeze were observed (force five winds, as per the Beaufort Scale).
According to an RNLI Facebook post, the crew of the Finnwave had successfully extinguished the fire without sustaining any injuries.
However, the RNLI rescue boat was still required to remain on standby near the Finnwave, as the latter's crew were unable to restart the engines after the engine room fire.
With the Eastbourne rescue boat beside it, the Finnish vessel's crew attempted to deploy its anchor—a process that took over an hour, as sea conditions got rough very quickly.
"On arrival, our volunteers confirmed no one required evacuation and were requested to stand by the drifting 217-metre vessel while the crew worked to deploy their anchor," the naval non-profit said in the Facebook post.
"Solent Coastguard remains in contact with the vessel while repairs are completed," the post added.
It was only after the Finnwave's anchor was secured that the Solent Coastguard cleared the RNLI rescue boat to return to base. No pollution or further damage has been reported yet, but an investigation into the cause of the engine fire is already underway.