The gutted vessel
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7th May, 2012
Dodi Princess Gutted
Dodi Princess, the cruise boat belonging to the Volta River Authority (VRA) on the Volta Lake, was on Friday gutted by fire.
It was said to have caught fire at about 6.30pm, with no passengers on board.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established.
The fire swept through the vessel’s three main decks namely, the captain’s bridge, the saloon and among other compartments destroying almost everything.
No casualties were recorded.
The fire was believed to have started from the kitchen.
Personnel of the Fire Service, the Eastern Regional Minister, Victor Smith, DCE for Asuogyaman, Mr Ahiakpor and a section of the media visited the scene on Saturday .
Mr Smith expressed shock at the incidence, recounting the revenue generated by the operations of the vessel boasting tourism in the country.
“It is unfortunate that this has happened at a time we are developing the tourism industry as a government”; Mr. Smith said and asked management of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to painstakingly investigate the cause of the fire.
He pledged the government’s readiness to support the VRA to either renovate or replace the vessel as soon as possible for use by tourists on vacation.
Mr. Smith was however happy no casualty was recorded as the crew had closed before the fire started saying, ‘it would have been a disaster if the boat was cruising on the Lake before the incident occurred’.
Henry Asante, the Asuogyaman District Fire Officer of the GNFS, said his outfit responded promptly to a distressed call about the outbreak of the fire on the vessel at about the outbreak of the fire on the vessel at about 6.48pm.
He said it took the team about three hours to bring the fire under control because of the direction of the wind.
The Principal Security Officer of the VRA Major Nii Narh Nyamekerh (rtd), said a securityman on duty at the time of the incident, reported of noticing smoke emanating from the saloon which prompted him to switch off the main source of electricity power to the boat.
He said the only major items not affected by the fire were the two engines of the boat purchased at 122,500 euros to replace the 20-year-old engines.
A few tourists who had gone there to cruise on the lake without the knowledge of what had happened to the vessel were spotted around disappointed.
Mr. Johnson Ehiakpor, the Asuogyaman DCE, who accompanied the Regional Minister to the scene, said the cruise vessel was one of the exciting investments in the tourism sector in Asuagyaman.
He expressed the hope that immediate steps would be taken to resore the cruise to enable people to enjoy the benefits of the Volta Lake.
With a passenger capacity of between 350 and 400, the vessel cruises both local and foreign tourists and travellers for four hours on the Volta Lake on weekends and public holidays to the Dodi Island, which is about 27 kilometres from Akosombo.
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