A ro-ro owned by Grimaldi Group caught fire last night while sailing off the coast of France.

The Italian owner said the 56,642-gt Grande America (built 1997) experienced a fire in one of the containers loaded on the weather deck overnight from 10 to 11 March.

The fire spread to other containers positioned close by while the ship was en route from Hamburg to Casablanca, about 260 kilometres off northwest France's Finistere.