BBC: Cruise ship Costa Allegra adrift off Seychelles

[jannyk]

An Italian cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board is without power in the Indian Ocean following a fire. The Costa Allegra is adrift in the dark more than 200 miles southwest of the Seychelles, near Alphonse Island. The ship is from the same fleet as the Costa Concordia, which capsized off the Italian coast in January, killing 32.

Costa Cruises said in a statement that the fire broke out in the electric generators' room. It did not spread and there were no injuries or casualties. Inspections of the state of the engine room are on-going, the company says.

Tugs and "other naval and aerial units" will reach the ship, which has sent out a distress signal, Costa Cruises says. Commander Cosimo Nicastro of the Italian coast guard told the BBC that it took the crew a few hours to extinguish the fire. Although the ship is in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there are "no problems for the passengers".

However the ship probably needs to be towed to a Seychelles port, he said.

More at link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17183134

[liberal N proud]

1. 636 passengers and 413 crew

[jannyk]

4. I was on this ship about 12 years ago

when she was sailing the Caribbean. She wasn't new then, she's an oldie now.

[melm00se]

2. oh man

Costa Cruises is having some serious issues.

[Cal Carpenter]

3. Yeah, I don't think the old saying "All publicity is good publicity"

applies to this cruise line, damn.

[TheWraith]

5. Boy, if Costa Concordia didn't kill this company, this is the proverbial straw on the camel. nt

[jannyk]

7. 'This Company' being Carnival Cruise Line I presume

as Costa is owned by Carnival.

[itsrobert]

6. Allegra?

Wouldn't Costa Viagra be more appropriate for a cruise ship?

[Little Tich]

8. Boat reaches Italian cruise ship adrift off Seychelles

Source: BBC

A fishing boat has reached the cruise ship adrift in the Indian Ocean with more than 1,000 people on board, officials say.

The Costa Allegra suffered a fire in its generator room that caused it to lose power south-west of the Seychelles - an area plagued by pirates.

It has no lights or air-conditioning and an emergency generator providing communications "could fail at any minute", the Italian coast guard says.

Tugs are still some hours away.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17186829

[primavera]

9. Pretty place to get stranded, though - n/t

[CTyankee]

10. If you could get to land. Just the thought of conditions without electricity and, I wonder, flush

toilets, makes me think of a perfect hell. No tugs around. Those poor people!