Fire Sends Cruise Ship Back to Port

A boiler room fire in the Holland America ship Westerdam forced it to return to port in the US on Saturday. The ship was on its way from Seattle to Alaska when the fire broke out. It was extinguished but then flared up again, so a tug escorted the ship back to Pier 91 in Seattle for inspection.

There are 2,086 guests and 798 crew onboard. No injuries were reported.

Holland America released this statement:
"There has been a small fire in one of the boiler rooms onboard  MS Westerdam as she sailed from Seattle earlier this evening which was quickly extinguished. All guests and crew are safe. Out of an abundance of caution and in coordination with the United States Coast Guard the ship has returned to Seattle.  The ship is fully operational and there has been no impact on guest services. It is anticipated that the ship will depart again once the assessments are competed and continue her voyage to Alaska."