A minor fire broke out on a ferry with 335 people, 294 of whom were passengers, on board.

However, no one was injured, and the shipping company describes the incident as an engine failure with some smoke.

"All people on board are unharmed, there is no panic and there are no injuries," Eugenijus Valikovas, at the Lithuanian Navy's rescue center, told local media company LRT.

The fire is believed to have started in the engine room of the German-built ship Regina Seaways.

The Danish shipping company DFDS is downplaying the incident, describing it as an engine failure where an explosion in the engine room caused some smoke, writes the Danish news agency Ritzau.

The incident occurred in international waters, but within the Russian economic zone outside Kaliningrad. The Russian navy is leading the rescue effort, writes LRF.

A military helicopter has been sent to the scene, and two more helicopters are on standby, a spokesman for the Lithuanian Air Force said.

The ferry was en route from Kiel in Germany to the port city of Klaipeda in Lithuania, reports Sky news.

Initially, preparations were made to evacuate the ferry, but this later proved unnecessary, DFDS told Ritzau. It is still unclear whether the ship will be towed to port or whether it can get there under its own power.

Source: TT