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Crippled cruise liner won't reach land until tomorrow
Source: Agencies |
February 29, 2012, Wednesday
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A CRIPPLED Italian cruise ship being towed in the Indian Ocean with more than 1,000 people aboard and no air conditioning now won't reach land in the Seychelles until tomorrow, officials said.
The cruise ship company said that food, satellite phones and VHF radios would be brought to the Costa Allegra by helicopter.
Photographs released yesterday showed hundreds of people milling about on the decks, and officials said passengers would sleep there, instead of in their unlit cabins.
The Costa Allegra has 636 passengers and 413 crew members on board.
On Monday, a fire in its generator room knocked out power to its engines, as well as to its lights and air conditioning.
Cruise ship officials had said that they would be taking the stranded travelers by today to Desroches, a small island in the Seychelles. However, they said yesterday that they would instead bring them to the main Seychelles island of Mahe.
The cruise ship company said the change was for safety and logistical reasons, and that the Allegra would reach Mahe early tomorrow. Two tug boats have joined a French fishing vessel to tow the cruise ship.
The fire aboard the Costa Allegra comes only six weeks after one of its sister ships, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing and presumed dead.
No one was injured in the fire, but the blaze set the liner adrift at sea in a region where Somali pirates prey on ships.
Both ships are operated by Costa Crociere SpA, owned by Florida-based Carnival Corp.
However, Company officials rushed to play down concerns. The Costa Allegra is "stable and upright," Giorgio Moretti, director of operations for Costa Crociere SpA, told reporters on Monday.
"It's a big ship and to tow it is a heavy task," said a Seychelles presidential spokeswoman.
The Allegra left Madagascar, off southeast Africa, on Saturday and was heading for Port Victoria, the Seychelles' main port, when the fire broke out.
The cruise ship company said that food, satellite phones and VHF radios would be brought to the Costa Allegra by helicopter.
Photographs released yesterday showed hundreds of people milling about on the decks, and officials said passengers would sleep there, instead of in their unlit cabins.
The Costa Allegra has 636 passengers and 413 crew members on board.
On Monday, a fire in its generator room knocked out power to its engines, as well as to its lights and air conditioning.
Cruise ship officials had said that they would be taking the stranded travelers by today to Desroches, a small island in the Seychelles. However, they said yesterday that they would instead bring them to the main Seychelles island of Mahe.
The cruise ship company said the change was for safety and logistical reasons, and that the Allegra would reach Mahe early tomorrow. Two tug boats have joined a French fishing vessel to tow the cruise ship.
The fire aboard the Costa Allegra comes only six weeks after one of its sister ships, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing and presumed dead.
No one was injured in the fire, but the blaze set the liner adrift at sea in a region where Somali pirates prey on ships.
Both ships are operated by Costa Crociere SpA, owned by Florida-based Carnival Corp.
However, Company officials rushed to play down concerns. The Costa Allegra is "stable and upright," Giorgio Moretti, director of operations for Costa Crociere SpA, told reporters on Monday.
"It's a big ship and to tow it is a heavy task," said a Seychelles presidential spokeswoman.
The Allegra left Madagascar, off southeast Africa, on Saturday and was heading for Port Victoria, the Seychelles' main port, when the fire broke out.
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