Fire at sea.
Documented fire incidents from the Logbook — 6 records, each with sources, lessons, and the SeaWise procedures that address it.
← Search & filter the full LogbookFire at sea gives no time to improvise. An engine-room flare-up, a galley blaze, an electrical fault — the accounts here show how fast a small fire becomes an abandon-ship. The crews who cope have accounted for everyone, know where their extinguishers are and how to fight a fire without opening it to more air, and have a way out planned before the smoke decides for them.
On Friday 19 June 2026, a fire broke out aboard a sailing yacht carrying eight Polish nationals as it was docking at the new-port marina on Mykonos. Crews from nearby boats boarded with portable extinguishers and, with the Coast Guard, contained the blaze; all eight aboard disembarked safely ashore. The yacht was then towed to the quay and secured, with only minor damage and no injuries reported.
On a Sunday afternoon in early February 2026, a 12-metre sailing yacht caught fire at anchor in Campomoro Bay, off south-west Corsica. By the time the SNSM arrived she was fully ablaze, the fire fed by a gas bottle and about 80 litres of diesel. The crew got off unaided and unhurt; the fire was brought under control after about an hour, but the weakened yacht sank.
On a recreational passage from San Fernando toward Colonia in 2026, a sailing yacht caught fire in the Emilio Mitre channel, the approach to Buenos Aires on the River Plate. Its two crew — a man and a woman — ended up in the water and were found floating about 100 metres from the burning boat by the Argentine Prefectura. Both were treated ashore for burns and hypothermia.
Around midday on Saturday 20 June 2026, a sailing yacht caught fire approaching Palma harbour, Mallorca, with four people aboard. Two of the crew jumped into the sea to escape the flames and were pulled out by Real Club Náutico de Palma marina staff, alerted over the port radio channel. One man was seriously hurt — a deep, bleeding leg wound, and semi-conscious — and the Palma fire brigade extinguished the blaze. The cause is unknown.
Soon after leaving her Portsmouth berth on 16 April 2005, a smoke alarm sounded in the forward cabin of the 14 m coded charter yacht Inseyandra, ten aboard. Spare sails and kit stowed around the bow-thruster motor had displaced a metal cover onto a power terminal; using the thruster caused a short circuit that set the gear alight. The crew put the fire out with a dry-powder extinguisher and diverted to a marina. No one was hurt.
While anchored in the Comber River near Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, the 7.9 m yacht Pinocchio dragged her anchor until her masthead touched overhead 11,000-volt power cables on 3 June 2004. The owner received an electric shock with burns to his right hand and arm, and the yacht caught fire and was completely destroyed.