Cruise Ship Adrift Near Mexico Following Fire

A cruise ship is adrift after an engine fire left it without propulsion about 140 miles off the Mexican coast on Sunday.

The Carnival Triumph is currently in the Gulf of Mexico. It was in waters near the Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Texas, when the fire broke out.

The ships automatic sprinkler system extinguished the fire without injuries, but the ship was left adrift in the ocean, reports CNN. The ship’s more than 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members must wait for help to come.

Carnival released a statement about the incident on Sunday evening, saying:

“The ship’s technical crew has determined the vessel will need to be towed to port. A tugboat is en route to the ship’s location and will tow the vessel to Progreso, Mexico, which is the closest port.”

The Carnival cruise liner is expected to arrive in port on Wednesday. Emergency generators have kept passengers from losing electricity during the incident. They also have ample food and water onboard.

Yahoo! News notes that the statement added, “Another Carnival ship, the Carnival Elation, is currently on scene and transferring additional food and beverage provisions to the Carnival Triumph.”

The Coast Guard’s Cutter Vigorous is expected to arrive on the scene early Monday morning. It will then begin to tub the cruise ship back to port.

The cruise ship adrift set sail from Galveston on Thursday. It was expected to arrive back in Monday February 11. Carnival announced that all passengers on board the ship will receive a refund and “cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage.” The ship’s next two voyages have also been cancelled.

[Image by Scott L. (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons]