WIGHTLINK’S Yarmouth to Lymington route will resume as normal this afternoon (Monday), a statement released by the company has confirmed.

The statement also confirmed that an engine fire on board Wight Sky started around ten minutes after the ship had left Yarmouth yesterday evening (Sunday).

There were 117 passengers and ten crew members on board, alongside 30 vehicles.

The ship's engine room fire extinguishing system was deployed, it arrived back in Yarmouh at 7.11pm and all passengers had left the ship by 7.15pm.

The ferry was met on arrival at Yarmouth by Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue who confirmed the fire was out. The incident has been notified to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Wightlink engineers will also carry out a full investigation.

The company expects to resume services between Lymington and Yarmouth this afternoon (Monday) with two ferries as usual, as Wight Sun will be transferred from the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route.

Wightlink’s Portsmouth-Fishbourne car ferries and Portsmouth Harbour-Ryde Pier FastCats are running normally.

All customers were kept informed of the changes to the services yesterday evening and rebooked on alternative sailings. Wightlink apologies for any inconvenience this may cause and advises them to check their emails and Wightlink’s website for details.