Car ferry carrying 300 people ablaze in Sweden, fire 'under control'

A large rescue operation went under way off the Swedish coast on Monday where a car ferry with 300 people on board was on fire, Swedish maritime authorities said.

"There is a fire on the car deck," Swedish Maritime Administration spokesman Jonas Franzen told AFP, adding that three helicopters and seven vessels had been dispatched to the scene and an evacuation of the ship had begun.

There were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the fire was not yet known.

"The fire is under control," another spokeswoman, Lisa Mjorning, told AFP.

The ship, the Stena Scandica, was located off the island of Gotska Sandon off Sweden's southeastern coast.

Norwegian newspaper VG quoted passenger Giedrius Didoras as saying that passengers all had gathered on the upper deck.

"The ferry has stopped," he said. "We can't see any of the flames, but we can see smoke coming from both sides of the ferry."

The Goteborg, Sweden-based ferry company says it is one of the word's largest ferry companies with 38 vessels that take more than 25,000 trips a year. It has 4,300 employees across Europe.