There are still too many shipboard fires, says IMO. Fires on board passenger ships, and especially on roro ferries, occur far too frequently, according to a series of studies by IMO safety experts. They cite a total of 73 fires on roro passenger ships between 1994 and 2011. And, of course, others have happened since then. One of the most recent was a ferry, PeeJay V, which caught fire just off the New Zealand coast in January 2016 and burned down to the waterline. Fortunately, none of the 57 people on board died.