Fire breaks out on cruise ship

Passengers on board Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas were called to muster stations in the early hours of this morning when fire broke out on board.
The blaze was discovered at 2.50 a.m.in the aft mooring area of Deck 3, which otherwise consists mostly of passenger cabins, and spread to the Deck 4 crew lounge. It was extinguished about two hours later and guests were allowed to return to their accommodation at about 7.00 a.m. No injuries were reported, although medical staff treated two passengers who fainted.
Unlike the incident earlier this year which crippled Carnival Triumph, Grandeur’s propulsion and power systems are unaffected.
Grandeur of the Seas is on a seven-day cruise from Baltimore, Maryland, which called at Port Canaveral, Florida, yesterday (Sunday). It is due to return to Baltimore on Friday. There are two British guests among the passengers.
The ship should have been spending today at Royal Caribbean’s private resort island of CocoCay, but instead docked in Freeport where engineers boarded to examine the damage.
Some passengers whose cabins were affected by water used to extinguish the fire and damaged by smoke will be provided with hotel accommodation ashore tonight.
Cruise ship Carnival Sensation was close by when the emergency was declared and held station in case it was required to help evacuate passengers. Three US Coast Guard cutters also attended the scene.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: “The Captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew have been accounted for, and there have been no injuries of guests or crew reported. The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to focus on their needs and concerns. Critical ship functions for – power, propulsion, communications systems – all were able to continue without interruption.”
Royal Caribbean International’s President and CEO Adam Goldstein and a guest care team including senior captain Hernan Zini boarded the ship in Freeport to meet guests. Shortly after their arrival and inspection of the damage, Royal Caribbean announced that the cruise had been terminated and that passengers would be flown home.
In a commendable first, Royal Caribbean used its Twitter account @RoyalCaribPR to issue updates throughout the day.
Grandeur of the Seas returned to service in May last year after a $48 million revitalization carried out in dry dock at Cadiz, Spain. It was built in 1996 in Tuku, Finland. In April 2005 the ship suffered a 42-ft gash in the hull, just above the waterline, when it was caught by a gust of wind while docking in Costa Maya, Mexico.