The ferry Strand caught fire at the dock in Rubberstadneset, southern Norway. The accident happened after inflammation of diesel fuel on board during welding works, which caused thick smoke on the whole terminal. More than 430 people from the facility were evacuated during the firefighting. A lot of fire trucks and harbor tugs were dispatched at the scene of the burning ferry. After more than 6 hours the flames were put under control and later extinguished. The firefighters boarded the vessel and started inspection and investigation for the root cause of the fire. The damages are sufficient but will be assessed at further stage.

The local authorities failed to account one person from the ferry Strand, who is believed to stay on board after fire erupted, probably being drunk. The missing person is not yet found and local authorities started investigation.

The ferry Strand (IMO: 8112639) has overall length of 75.00 m, moulded beam of 14.00 m and maximum draft of 5.50 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 446 DWT and the gross tonnage is 1,479 GRT. The ferry was built in 1982 by Sterkoder Shipbuilding in their shipyard in Kristiansund, Norway.