Passengers on cruise ship Azamara Quest were called to their muster stations today after fire broke out in the engine room.
The ship, carrying 600 passengers (including 60 from the UK) and 410 crew, left Hong Kong on Monday for a 17-night cruise to Singapore. It continued to operate on back-up power. The vessel is currently between Manila in the Philippines and Borneo.
Malaysian Transport Dept spokesman Lieutenant Commander Algier Ricafrente said five crew members had been injured, one seriously.
A company spokesman said that about 8.19 am local time “Azamara Quest experienced a fire in one of ship’s engine rooms. The fire was contained to that engine room and was quickly extinguished.
“There were no injuries of guests reported and the atmosphere aboard is calm. However, in an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations.
Emergency power has restored air conditioning, running water, plumbing, refrigeration and food preparation, but there is no propulsion power.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the incident and our colleagues in Manila are liaising with the Philippines coastguard who are looking into the matter.”
Yesterday’s blaze was the second to affect ships of the same design in the past three years. Quest was originally built as R Seven in 2000 for the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises. R Eight, which became Minerva 2 and is now P&O’s Adonia, suffered an engine room fire in 2009 while sailing as Royal Princess. Four weeks ago, cruise ship Costa Allegra was also crippled by a fire in its engine room and had to be towed to safety in the Seychelles.
Leave A Comment