The Cruise Ship 'Norwegian Dream', badly damaged after a collision with a cargo ship in the English Channel. Related article: What could have gone wrong?
	Tuesday, August 24, 1999
	Firefighters are battling to contain a blaze on a cargo ship after it collided with a luxury liner carrying more than 2,000 people in the English Channel.  Three people were injured when the Norwegian Dream and the cargo ship Ever Decent were in collision 17 miles off the coast of Margate in Kent. A company spokesman said a further 20 passengers received minor medical treatment. The Norwegian Dream managed to sail on to Dover despite a gaping metal gash in the bow of the vessel.
	But the 25-strong crew of the container ship Ever Decent remain at sea attempting to fight a fire on board the stricken boat. The 52,000-tonne cargo ship, is some 15 miles off Margate under a noxious cloud of smoke. The majority of the passengers on the Norwegian Dream came from North America. Arielle Adelman, 16, from Brooklyn, New York said: "We weren't sure if it was going to sink. When I heard the bang I really pictured another Titanic and started running to the deck.
	"It was really scary. There was a loud bang. I was walking down the hall and fell over. The ship started shaking and things started falling. No-one got seriously hurt." John Chambers, from Carlisle, Cumbria said: "We could see in the distance one of the ships that was on fire and other ships were there that were coming to help." Helicopters, tugs, lifeboats and the German frigate Augsburg went to offer aid to the Ever Decent shortly after the accident occurred at 0015 GMT.
	Rescuers believe the fire on the cargo ship was sparked off as a result of the collision between the two boats.  Rod Johnson, Dover Coastguards' commanding officer, said: "When the tank was breached, water rushed in, forcing the ship to tilt quite sharply to one side."  He said at that stage the Ever Decent's master, Captain Shu, a Taiwanese national, had started taking the boat towards shallow water over a sand bank.  Mr Johnson said the captain was then able to use water ballast to bring the boat back up to a near-upright position.  However, several cargo containers fell into the sea, and others landed on the ruptured bow of the Norwegian Dream.
	Pollution watch Lifeboats were launched from Dover and two other English harbours, Margate and Ramsgate, but have not been needed. A Marine and Coastguard agency spokesman said: "Several of the containers which are on fire contain paint and paint hardener which is producing noxious smoke.
	"However the vessel is 15 miles off shore and is not posing a threat to the shore line." It remains unclear how the accident came to happen in good weather conditions. The Bahamian-registered Norwegian Dream was on a 13-day cruise of the Scandinavian capitals which also included Germany and Russia.  The Ever Decent, built in 1997, is registered in Taiwan and is owned by the Evergreen Marine Corporation.