A reader of our blog brought to my attention that the Sea Dream I operated by SeaDream Yacht Club caught fire this afternoon.

A number of Italian newspapers report that a fire broke out in the ship’s engine room while the ship was off the coast of Calabria, in southern Italy.

The Ansi Chronicle said that the fire occurred while the ship was between Amalfi and Palinuro with 105 passengers and 61 crew members aboard.

The Sea Dream I is reportedly under tow. All passengers and crew members were reportedly safely rescued by the fast ferry Isola di Vulcano this afternoon and disembarked in Naples. 

Photo credit: Napoli Repubblica newspaper.

September 2 2016 Update: A passenger states that the fire occured around 2:00 AM local time on September 1st and completely disabled the ship.  The ship was reportedly not evacuated until later in the afternoon around 12 hours after the fire. 

You can see a video of the evacuation after the fire via Corriere del Mezzogiorno TV. 

Additional information is available at the Maritime Herald. 

September 2 2016 video credit: Livio Pave YouTube

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xMxx22si5Xs%3Frel%3D0