Tahiti cruise ship on fire

Wind Song's voyage in French Polynesia

Passengers have been evacuated from a luxury four-masted cruise ship off Tahiti as crew members fight a fire on board.

The French High Commission in the Tahitian capital Papeete said all 127 passengers on board the Wind Song had been evacuated to another ship, the Aremiti.

There were no reports of casualties or injuries, a reporter for the French news agency AFP said.

According to the commission, 17 of the 90 crew members are still on board tackling the fire, which broke out in the engine room as the ship was sailing 10 nautical miles from the island of Taha'a.

Lifeboats

Two French navy ships and fishing vessels are also trying to put out the fire.

Tahitian emergency officials quoted by Reuters said most of the passengers were US citizens. There were also 19 Canadians, as well as Mexicans, Argentines and a couple of French people, they said.

The passengers were first put on lifeboats, and were then picked up by the Aremiti, which is now heading for Raita, the largest of the Society Islands.

The crew of the Wind Song has chartered a flight to Raita, which will pick up the passengers and transfer them to Tahiti on Monday, the AFP reporter said.

The blaze appeared to be purely accidental, they said. Several explosions were reported aboard after the fire broke out.

The Wind Song, built in France in 1987, is a modern sailing ship which runs regular cruises round the Isles de Vent.

The ship is run by the US company Windstar Cruises based in Seattle. It has an international crew including Indonesians and Filipinos.

It is 134 metres (440 feet) long, has four decks and can reach a wind-assisted speed of 14 knots.