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VILNIUS (Reuters) – A ferry carrying 335 Lithuanian-flagged passengers is powerless in the Baltic Sea, but no one is reported to have been injured, a spokesman for the Danish DFDS ferry company told Reuters.
"There were vibrations and smoke, but no fire was found," said the spokesman, contradicting the previous statements of a fire by the Lithuanian army aboard the ship.
He could not tell if the passengers and crew were in danger and said the ferry should be towed to the port.
The company said the ferry would be towed to the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda, where it was heading from Kiel in Germany, due to technical problems.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense stated that "the fire was out" and that four Lithuanian military ships were heading for the ferry and will reach it at 1500 GMT.
The ferry, Regina Seaways, made a distress call at 10:45 GMT. The Lithuanian army has sent a helicopter to the ship and has two others waiting if necessary, said a spokesman for the Lithuanian Air Force.
Report by Andrius Sytas; Written by Johan Ahlander; Edited by Simon Johnson and Janet Lawrence
