Man on burning ferry ‘panicked’ as crew ordered him to put life jacket on

A ferry passenger has told of the panicked moment he was told to put his life jacket on as a fire raged in the ship's engine room.

James Bradley, 45, was on board the Pont-Aven from Plymouth when a fire broke out and forced the ship headed to Santander in Spain to divert to Brest, France.

He said he felt "disorientated" as sirens went off around 4am, but the panic only really hit when they were instructed by staff to put their life jackets on.

"That's when I thought 'we could end up in the water here,'" James, from Wigan, told Mirror Online.

He added: "When you put a life jacket on you panic for your family.

"There were quite a lot of old people on the boat and a couple of young children in prams.

"You are looking around and thinking 'what are we going to do if panic strikes?'"

James also told how he worried his partner by sending a message home saying his boat was on fire – only to then lose wifi signal.

Luckily he eventually got hold of her to reassure her everything was fine.

James said he is getting £170 compensation from a £500 fare because to get the full refund you had to travel back to Plymouth – but he wanted to make his own way to Spain as planned.

The Pont-Aven left Plymouth at 3.45pm on Sunday and was due to arrive in Santander at 12.15pm local time today.

But the fire in the early hours of this morning forced the ferry to turn around and it docked at Brest, in France.

Pont-Aven was carrying 766 passengers and 142 crewmembers. There were no injuries as a consequence of the incident.

James was on his way to Spain with his friend Darren Worthington when the fire broke out.

Describing the incident, he said: "At about 4am we heard emergency sirens – I was in bed and woke up disorientated.

"They ushered us down to a restaurant area.

"We didn't know what was going on and weren't given a lot of information to start with.

"We were handed a life jacket and told to sit down.

"Then they told us to put the jackets on and we thought 'this is getting real now'.

"It felt like the front of the boat was going nose down – I said that to my mate

"But then they told us one of the engines was on fire at the front of the ship."

He added: "I sent a message home to my partner saying my boat was on fire.

"Then they cut the wifi off for security purposes – but at that point it wasn't good when I'd told my family my boat was on fire.

"I thought 'I can't leave my partner waiting to see if my boat has sunk.'"

James said luckily after about an hour they allowed him to use one of the phones on the boat to let his partner know everything was OK.

He said 10 firefighters from France arrived on a helicopter, adding that passengers never saw the fire because it was in the engine room.

James said after safely docking in Brest, they were given the option of being taken back to Plymouth or making their own way from there.

He and friend Darren are now independently making their way to Spain.

Brittany Ferries statement in full

Brittany Ferries told Plymouth Live : "Following the incident that took place on board Pont-Aven this morning, the ship has now diverted towards the port of Brest in Brittany.

"The ship had departed Plymouth at 15:45 on Sunday 28th April and had been due to arrive in Santander, northern Spain at 12:15 local time today.

"Pont-Aven is carrying 766 passengers and 142 crew members, and there were no injuries as a consequence of the incident.

"The ship is now due to dock in Brest at around 15:00 local time this afternoon.

"On arrival, all passengers will be able to disembark. Those travelling in a vehicle will have the choice to cancel their booking with a full refund and to transfer to Plymouth on this evening’s 23:30 Roscoff to Plymouth sailing.

"Alternatively, if they opt to continue their journey to Spain by road they will receive a contribution to onward travel costs and compensation for the delayed arrival and inconvenience.

"Arrangements are also being made to allow those passengers travelling by foot to reach their destination.

"When the ship arrives in Brest, Brittany Ferries’ technical teams will embark and will commence a full investigation into the how the incident occurred, and to assess what repairs will be necessary and how long these will take.

"Once again Brittany Ferries would like to offer its sincere apologies to all passengers affected by this morning’s incident."

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