LONDON -- A ferry with nearly 900 people on board was on fire in the North Sea on Friday off Scotland and helicopters had been scrambled and ships alerted in case evacuation was necessary, the Coa

"The latest information we have is that the initial fire, the master tells us, is out but there is an additional fire in the funnel," Coast Guard spokesman Mark Clark told Sky News.

He said the Princess of Scandinavia -- which sails between the northern English port of Newcastle-on Tyne and Sweden -- was 150 miles southeast of Aberdeen and the ship's captain had not yet called fo

Several ships were close by, as was the Eko Fisk Oil Platform. Five helicopters has been scrambled from Scotland and one from Sweden, and a Nimrod surveillance aircraft dispatched to monitor the situa

"There is no order at this time to evacuate. We are standing by and have scrambled a Nimrod from Kinloss and helicopters from Lossiemouth, Boulmer and Wattisham," Eddie Pratt, spokesman at Raf Rescue

The 22,500 gross tons ferry is owned by DFDS Seaways of Denmark.