Carnival Triumph Adrift After Engine Fire

The Carnival Triumph suffered an engine fire Sunday, leaving the ship adrift and operating on emergency power.

The ship was about 150 miles off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula when the fire occurred in the vessel’s aft engine room. None of the 3,143 guests or 1,086 crew members onboard were harmed. The ship’s emergency systems extinguished the fire.

On Tuesday afternoon, sections of the ship were still without functioning toilets or fresh water, and power had been restored to only a handful of elevators.

The vessel departed Galveston, Texas, on Feb. 7 and was scheduled to return on Feb. 11.

The ship was orginally slated to be towed to Progreso, Mexico. After drifting 90 miles since losing power, however, the ship will be towed to Mobile, Ala., sometime Thursday, Feb. 14.

Fresh dinner & refunds
The Carnival Elation was onsite Sunday, providing the stranded vessel with fresh dinner for guests. The Carnival Legend was expected to arrive Monday afternoon to provide further relief.

All guests onboard will receive a full refund along with a future cruise credit, a refund of onboard spending and transportation reimbursement, Carnival said.

The Feb. 11 and 16 voyages of the Carnival Triumph have been cancelled, with full reimbursements provided by Carnival.

Clients unconcerned
Ralph Santisteban, owner of a CruiseOne franchise in Miami, said he had no clients on board the Carnival Triumph and not received any calls from clients concerned about cruise safety upon hearing news of the fire.
 
“Our clients are not asking about it [the fire], as it looks like it was just an inconvenience – no one was hurt,” said Santisteban.

“Even in worse situations, we’ve found that people tend to take cruise ship problems and mishaps with a grain of salt because they are so rare. Cruises are the safest way to travel.”

This story was updated on Feb. 12, 2013.