Passenger ferry Norman Atlantic on fire in Adriatic sea

A ferry Norman Atlantic carrying 466 passengers and crew and belonging to the Greek ferry line AKAK has caught fire en route from Greece to Italy.

Greek coast guard officials said the Norman Atlantic, sailing from the port city of Patras in western Greece to the Italian port of Ancona

It sent a distress signal from a position 33 nautical miles off the small island of Othonoi.

The fire broke out in the ship's garage and was quickly spreading through the ship, private broadcaster Mega said. No casualties have so far been reported.

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On 28 December 2014, Norman Atlantic caught fire on a ferry run from Patras, Greece to Ancona, Italy. A fire broke out on the car deck just before 6:00 am local time, half an hour after leaving port of Igoumenitsa, Greece, an intermediate stop, when it was 44 nautical miles northwest of the island of Corfu, 33 nautical miles northwest of the island of Othonoi.

At the time it was carrying 222 vehicles, 411 passengers, 55 crew (22 Italians, 33 Greek). The heat from the fire permeated the entire ship, even starting to melt peoples shoes on the reception deck. An international rescue effort was started to evacuate the 466 passengers and crew aboard in heavy winds