Canadian navy ship crippled by fire returns home

CTV Vancouver: Fire-ravaged warship returns home Ravaged naval ship HMCS Protecteur returns to its home port in Esquimalt.

ESQUIMALT, B.C. -- A Canadian navy supply ship that was crippled by an engine room fire in February has returned to its home in Vancouver Island.

Navy Lt. Paul Pendergast says HMCS Protecteur docked at the naval base in Esquimalt, B.C. Saturday morning.

The ship was towed to port by an American tugboat.

Pendergast says the cause of the engine room fire is still under investigation adding it's unclear if the aging vessel will sail again.

Protecteur was scheduled to be retired next year.

The Feb. 27 blaze raged for 11 hours and left the Protecteur dead in the water for two days about 700 kilometres northeast of Hawaii.

Protecteur was towed to Pearl Harbor where it was prepared for its trip to Esquimalt.