Baku, December 29 (AZERTAC). Emergency crews were called at roughly 11pm last night to reports of a cabin being alight on the MS King Seaways ferry travelling from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

It was extinguished within a quarter of an hour but left 15 people needing medical assistance, including four crew members and two passengers who needed to be airlifted to hospital for smoke inhalation.

A 26-year-old man has now been arrested, police confirmed, in connection with the blaze which forced the vessel to return to North Shields, Tyneside, in the early hours of this morning.

Stranded passengers have been let off the ship while police continue their investigations and question witnesses.

Olivia Elliott told Sky News earlier this morning: ‘We were all sat upstairs when the alarm went off and the captain came on the tannoy and told us to evacuate to the outer deck because there was a fire.

‘We were out there for about 40 minutes and then we had to wait in the nightclub area.

‘We are now back in our rooms. We don’t know when we will be allowed to leave the ship.’

The ship was carrying 946 passengers and 127 crew members.

Inspector Andrew Dixon said: ‘At approximately 11pm the Maritime and Coastguard agency informed Humberside Police that a passenger ferry en route from Newcastle to Holland had suffered an incident whereby a passenger is believed to have set fire to a cabin.

‘It is unknown if the fire was started deliberately or accidentally. As a result of this incident the person suspected of causing the fire, or the person from the cabin where the fire occurred, be it deliberate or accidental, has been detained by ship staff and the ship was returning to its dock in Newcastle.’

Some passengers have taken to Twitter to vent their fury at not being allowed off the ship sooner.

The cabin was badly burnt, but all other parts of the ferry were unaffected and the ship is expected to restart its journey tomorrow.