By Devon Evans,Freelance WriterOCHO RIOS:
THE MORE than 3,000 passengers who visited the North Coast resort town of Ocho Rios yesterday aboard Navigator of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, had a scary welcome docking in the Ocho Rios harbour.
A pleasure craft which had caught fire in the sea near to the marina and was abandoned by its crew, began drifting toward the pier where the US$900 million Navigator of the Seas was docked.
As worried marine fire-fighters and police officers looked on helplessly, port officials were in a frenzy, scurrying for telephone and CB radios to call for help.
But two brave young fishermen acting quickly, managed to get the burning boat away from the giant cruise ship.
The incident which occurred near 10 a.m., underscored the poor state of fire safety in Ocho Rios. The Ocho Rios fire boat which was docked less than 50 meters from the blazing 40-foot fibreglass boat which is used for parasailing, could not respond as it had been out of service for more than a year.
Eye-witnesses said that about five men were on the ill-fated boat trying to start the engine when it burst into flames. They tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher but they failed and they abandoned the boat when the flames became uncontrollable.
Young fishermen Glen Campbell and Kirk Davis from the fisherman's beach in Ocho Rios saw thick clouds of black smoke rising from the boat.
Campbell told The Gleaner that when he saw the boat drifting towards the pier and the worried look on the port manager's face, he and his friend, Kirk, decided to help. They dived into the water and climbed onto the flaming boat with a length of rope which they tied to the bow and with the help of the marine police, they pulled it to a safe area. Firemen from the Ocho Rios fire station who were called to the scene, used foam to put out the flame.
The boat sank in the Ocho Rios harbour while the police were trying to tow it to shore.
Water Sports Enterprises Ltd. of Ocho Rios owns the boat which is valued around US$60,000.
As fire-fighting operations were in progress, the cruise ship passengers who initially had a scare, had much fun taking pictures of the incident.
Asked about the state of the fire boat in Ocho Rios, firemen at the scene all declined to comment, instead referring The Gleaner to their senior officer, who was unavailable for comment.
