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About 80 people who were on board a ship which is on fire in the Atlantic Ocean have taken to life-rafts.
The Athena, a factory fishing ship, was carrying 111 people when the fire started 230 miles (370km) south-west of the Isles of Scilly.
The fire is now under control and there are no reports of any injuries.
Falmouth coastguards are co-ordinating an air and sea rescue operation and a cargo vessel is also alongside helping to rescue those in lifeboats.
Ships responding Thirty people have stayed on board the ship to help fight the fire, which is in the processing area of the ship.
The master of the ship evacuated the 81 non-essential personnel to life-rafts.
He told coastguards the fire was going out but was not completely extinguished.
Coastguards in Falmouth were alerted to the incident just after 0600 BST.
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: "We are co-ordinating a search and rescue mission, but it's a long way from either the UK or French coast."
Coastguards said that five ships had responded to the emergency call and that the nearest, the container ship Vega, was at the scene and attempting to take on board the crew who abandoned the ship in about 10 life-rafts.
A Falcon 50 fixed-wing aircraft was also scrambled from a French airfield to provide a communications link between the rescue scene and its co-ordinators
A spokesman from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall said a rescue helicopter had been scrambled and was being held on the Isles of Scilly for refuelling.
It could reach the ship, but it was at the Sea King aircraft's maximum range, the base said.
On reaching the scene, the flight would leave enough fuel to hover for about 20 minutes and pick up about 10 crew before needing to head straight back.
Another helicopter was on standby and more were available if necessary, the Culdrose spokesman said.
The closest land is believed Brest in Brittany.
The Faroe Islands-based Athena was constructed in 1992 and rebuilt in China this year after suffering another fire.
It has a maximum capacity of 125 crew and is managed by shipping company Thor. The people on board are of mixed nationalities, including Chinese, Russian, Peruvian and Scandinavian.
A Thor spokeswoman said the company was dealing with the latest incident and could give no further details.
Article BBC News
About 80 people who were on board a ship which is on fire in the Atlantic Ocean have taken to life-rafts.
The Athena, a factory fishing ship, was carrying 111 people when the fire started 230 miles (370km) south-west of the Isles of Scilly.
The fire is now under control and there are no reports of any injuries.
Falmouth coastguards are co-ordinating an air and sea rescue operation and a cargo vessel is also alongside helping to rescue those in lifeboats.
Ships responding Thirty people have stayed on board the ship to help fight the fire, which is in the processing area of the ship.
The master of the ship evacuated the 81 non-essential personnel to life-rafts.
He told coastguards the fire was going out but was not completely extinguished.
Coastguards in Falmouth were alerted to the incident just after 0600 BST.
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: "We are co-ordinating a search and rescue mission, but it's a long way from either the UK or French coast."
Coastguards said that five ships had responded to the emergency call and that the nearest, the container ship Vega, was at the scene and attempting to take on board the crew who abandoned the ship in about 10 life-rafts.
A Falcon 50 fixed-wing aircraft was also scrambled from a French airfield to provide a communications link between the rescue scene and its co-ordinators
A spokesman from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall said a rescue helicopter had been scrambled and was being held on the Isles of Scilly for refuelling.
It could reach the ship, but it was at the Sea King aircraft's maximum range, the base said.
On reaching the scene, the flight would leave enough fuel to hover for about 20 minutes and pick up about 10 crew before needing to head straight back.
Another helicopter was on standby and more were available if necessary, the Culdrose spokesman said.
The closest land is believed Brest in Brittany.
The Faroe Islands-based Athena was constructed in 1992 and rebuilt in China this year after suffering another fire.
It has a maximum capacity of 125 crew and is managed by shipping company Thor. The people on board are of mixed nationalities, including Chinese, Russian, Peruvian and Scandinavian.
A Thor spokeswoman said the company was dealing with the latest incident and could give no further details.
Article BBC News
