Cruise ship Boudicca hit by engine room fire

The Fred Olsen cruise ship Boudicca is carrying 784 passengers and 356 crew

A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 people was left without power off Morocco after an engine room fire.

Holidaymakers on board the Boudicca were told to don life jackets and gather at emergency muster stations, according to the son of one passenger.

The fire at 04:00 BST left the ship "listing" and "in pitch black", said Dave Tonkin, whose father is onboard.

Fred Olsen, the company which owns the ship, said it was now fully stable and had five engines running again.

Spokeswoman Rachael Jackson said Boudicca listed for "a short period" but was now stable and travelling again, although more slowly than normal.

"The fire was in the engine room, but has now been extinguished, and no guests or crew have been injured," she said.

She said two main engines and three auxiliary engines were running, while two other engines were still being mended.

The ship will aim to arrive in Lanzarote, Spain, on Monday as planned, she added.

It currently has 784 passengers and 356 crew on board.

The Boudicca is one of four cruise liners owned by the UK-based, Norwegian-owned company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

The ship's online locator currently shows it off the coast of Casablanca, Morocco. It left Cadiz, Spain, on Saturday.

It is not the first time the Boudicca has been in the news. Last year Fred Olsen paid £280,000 in compensation to 130 holidaymakers who suffered gastric illnesses on board between October 2009 and May 2010.

The ship was also hit in 2013 when 98 passengers contracted a vomiting bug.