Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ (CMV) has offered to assist with the evacuation of local islanders and tourists from Kangaroo Island, Australia, as the fires escalate.

The cruise line’s ship Vasco da Gama was scheduled to call at Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island on Saturday as part of its four-night South Australian Icons itinerary, but the port of call had been cancelled after the South Australian County Fire Service advised that two-thirds of the island were operating with the highest level of warning in place.

CMV Australia’s managing director Dean Brazier, said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the Australian bushfires.

“We wish to thank our guests on board for their patience and understanding of the itinerary change and imagine that they were in support of assisting the bushfire effort and those on Kangaroo Island. We would like to thank them for their patience and understanding during this unprecedented time.”

CMV was advised at 8:38 on Saturday morning (4 January) that the assistance of Vasco da Gama was not necessary and contributed on its voyage.

With 1,267 passengers and 536 crew on board, it called at Port Lincoln yesterday (5 January) before returning to Adelaide as scheduled.

Australia is fighting one of its worst bushfire seasons, fuelled by record temperatures and months of drought.

At least 24 people have died since the fires started in September and in the state of New South Wales alone, more than 1,300 houses have been destroyed. State and federal authorities are struggling to contain the massive blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other countries, including the United States.

Thick plumes of smoke have been blanketing cities in the country, and in early December, the smoke was so bad in Sydney that air quality measured 11 times the ‘hazardous’ level.

Currently, there are thought to be 136 fires burning across New South Wales, of those 69 are not contained.