The 67’ converted ferry named ‘Kelly Jayne’ before it was destroyed by a fire on January 8, 2026. Photo: Provided

No one was injured when the Kelly Jayne caught fire in Nanny Cay on January 8, 2026. Photo: VINO

Speaking to Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) on Thursday evening, Mr Kevin Rowlette said that the boat, a 67’ converted ferry named ‘Kelly Jayne’, was sold recently and the new owners do not reside here. 

“Basically, it was a vessel that was at the dock in Nanny Cay, a vessel that we had sold three months ago…people had come to get ready to take it to go away.”

Thursday afternoon, he explained, they were alerted that there was smoke coming from the vessel. 

Quick thinking to save other vessels

Rowlette said the fire accelerated very quickly, going from “a little bit of smoke to flames very quickly”. 

He added there was no time to try fighting the fire at the dock.

“So we're Husky Salvage & Towing, so that's what we do, so we took the boat under tow to get it away from endangering other vessels, and we took it over into a mangrove area by Hannah Bay and then beached it to get it away from everybody.”

He said the main thing is that other vessels were not damaged as a result of Thursday’s fire. 

“The potential of a big marina fire was huge, and at least it was just that one vessel that was damaged and not other vessels or people.”

Cannot speculate as to the cause 

We asked Rowlette if he had any idea what could have caused the fire, to which he responded that it would be speculation. 

He did, however, say that many boat fires are electrical but “wouldn't be able to confirm that in any way”. 

He added that he believes there would be further investigation into the fire and that the owners would “come up with a plan very soon to move it from where it is and figure out what to do with it”.