Fire-damaged Canadian navy supply ship HMCS Protecteur reaches Pearl Harbor

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The Canadian ship HMCS Protecteur is towed into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after suffering an engine fire aboard the ship while at sea, Thursday, March 6, 2013, in Honolulu. The ship got help from the U.S. Navy after the fire broke out last week, leaving 20 sailors with minor injuries, the Royal Canadian Navy said. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

ESQUIMALT, B.C. – A gruelling week is coming to an end for the crew of the Canadian navy supply ship HMCS Protecteur.

The vessel arrived in Pearl Harbor Thursday morning, ending a laboured voyage back to Hawaii that began after a blaze seriously damaged the ship’s engine room last Thursday night.

At the time, Protecteur was nearly 700 kilometres northeast of Hawaii, heading toward its home port of Esquimalt, B.C., with nearly 300 crew members, 17 family members and several civilian contractors aboard.

Twenty crew members were slightly hurt fighting the fire, which left the 173-metre vessel floating without power and in need of a tow.

The trip back to Hawaii was complicated when the tow rope broke in heavy seas over the weekend, but a U.S. navy tug took over and the rest of the voyage has been slow, but uneventful.

Several senior Canadian navy officials are in Pearl Harbor to meet the ship, assess the damage and consider plans to get the 44-year-old supply ship back to Canadian waters. (CFAX)

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