748 rescued from blazing cruise ship

On my recent visit to the Netherlands Antilles island of Curacao, I saw cruise ship Ocean Star Pacific anchored off-shore and discovered the vessel – best known to UK cruise passengers as Carousel when it sailed for Airtours – was in the final stages of a refit ready to start a new life cruising the Mexican Riviera.
It re-entered service only a few days ago, but its new career has been brought to a sudden halt by a fire which led to the evacuation of all 748 on board.
The Associated Press reports 522 passengers and 226 crew members aboard the ship on Saturday were evacuated by catamaran to the port of Huatulco on Mexico’s West Coast.
USA Today’s Cruise Log reports that Ocean Star Pacific is a nearly 40-year-old ship originally built for Royal Caribbean as the Nordic Prince that just began sailing for Ocean Star Cruises, a new line based in Mexico. It was on its second voyage for the line, according to industry watcher Seatrade Insider.
Seatrade Insider quotes an executive at the company as saying it was a “small, small fire.”