A man died when a ship burned in Njarðvík harbour

One man died when a fire consumed a ship in the harbour of Njarðvík last night. Two people were taken to a hospital, but rescue attempts on a third person at the scene failed.

He was then taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sigurður Skarphéðinsson, deputy fire chief at the Fire Department of Suðurnes, tells mbl.is that a call was received at 2:10 AM last night. At the time the fire was already raging.

Skarphéðinsson says the fire has resumed around 7 AM this morning and that attempts to put the fire out are still ongoing.

Police have been unable to comment as it has not been possible to enter due to heat and smoke.

"The most devastating thing that can happen"

“This is just the most terrible thing that can happen. There’s nothing else to be said,” Sigvaldi Hólmgrímsson, captain of Grímsnes GK-555, tells mbl.is. The ship caught fire in the harbor of Njarðvík last night and one of the crew members died.

Hólmgrímsson confirms that the deceased is a man in his fifties from Poland, and he leaves behind his wife and children in Poland.

He is now waiting to learn the fate of another crew member who has been kept asleep in a hospital. A third person was badly burned in the fire. “He was to undergo lung examination around 10 Am and and I am waiting for news of that,” Hólmgrímsson says.

Seven were on board

Seven men were on board when the fire started, but the ship was to leave the ship at about four o’clock last night. The fire was reported at ten minutes past two o’clock last night and Hólmgrímsson says he was not awake by then. Four people made it out of the burning ship by themselves.

He said he has no idea at this time what caused the fire and is waiting for police to investigate what happened.

Not long ago, Grímsnes GK-555 made headlines, but that was because one crew member smuggled a young girl on board. The ship was returned to port and the man arrested, but he was released after interrogation. He no longer works for the company.