LONDON: Coastguard rescued 111 members of a fishing ship’s crew which caught fire off the south-western coast of Britain on Wednesday.

The Athena, a factory vessel operated by Faroe Islands-based company Thor, was heading towards Britain after being assisted by other ships, the coastguard said.

A commercial ship rescued 98 crew members from life boats while 13 stayed on board to fight the fire after the Athena ran into trouble almost 500 kilometres off the south-western coast of England.—Reuters