Cruise ship catches fire

More than 4,200 people on board

MIAMI. - A cruise ship that was sailing through the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 people on board was towed to the Mexican coast yesterday after being adrift for a fire in the engine room.

Carnival, the largest cruise operator in the world, said that the huge ship could arrive on Wednesday at the port of Progreso (Mexico), and confirmed that there were no injuries during the fire which took place on Sunday.

The boat drifted for about 250 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), after an engine failed and a fire broke out. Passengers were never without power thanks to emergency generators.

The "Triumph", which is the name of the ship, left from Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and should have been back yesterday. Traveling on board were 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members.

As of the result of this incident, passengers will be refunded their money back and will be given a voucher for a similar cruise. The company will also pay all of the expenses that they made while on the cruise (except in the gift shops and the casino), and any transport costs that may result from this incident.

Passengers will also be sent back to the United States, and a phone line has been opened for relatives and friends to call who may be concerned about the situation of travelers.

The company is now striving to tow the ship safely to the Mexican port of Progreso with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and another vessel that is also owned by Carnival, the "Elation", which was used to deliver food and drinks to the "Triumph".

Carnival has canceled the next two trips that were scheduled for this route, and in a statement explained that the ships fire detection system detected the fire in the engine room and worked correctly, enabling the system to extinguish the fire quickly and prevented it from spreading.

In January 2012, thirty people died after the ship "Costa Concordia" suffered a shipwreck off the island of Giglio in the Mediterranean.

Editorial@sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com

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