Stricken cruise ship limps into port
Source: Agencies |
April 2, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A LUXURY cruise ship stranded at sea for 24 hours because of a fire safely reached a Malaysian port where police and embassy officials stood by yesterday to help 1,000 people aboard.
The Azamara Quest drifted off the southern Philippines after flames engulfed one of its engine rooms on Friday, injuring five crew members. It restored propulsion the next night and reached the harbor of Sandakan city in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah on Borneo island late yesterday.
Police and buses waited to take passengers to hotels.
It was the latest in a series of accidents hitting luxury cruise liners since January, when the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.
Five of the Azamara Quest's crew suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured and needed hospital care, the ship's operator has said.
The vessel was carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew members. Some 201 of the passengers were American, according to lists provided by the ship captain to the Philippine coast guard.
Passengers from 25 countries and regions also included 98 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand and 14 from Switzerland.
The crew includes 119 Filipinos, 58 Indians and 50 Indonesians.
Azamara Club Cruises, the ship's Miami, Florida-based operator, said in a statement earlier yesterday that the ship was sailing at a top speed of only 6 knots -- 11 kilometers -per hour -- to reach Sandakan.
"Unfortunately, the ship has not been able to restore power to the air conditioning compressors," the statement said, adding that "the guest sentiment onboard continues to be calm and upbeat."
The company said the rest of the cruise would be canceled. It said it would fully refund passengers and provide each with a future cruise certificate for the amount paid for the aborted voyage. Azamara Club Cruises is part of Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
The ship had been scheduled to make several stops in Indonesia before reaching Singapore on April 12.
Instead, it drifted in the Sulu Sea, 130 kilometers south of the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef, a Philippine coast guard spokesman said.
The Azamara Quest drifted off the southern Philippines after flames engulfed one of its engine rooms on Friday, injuring five crew members. It restored propulsion the next night and reached the harbor of Sandakan city in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah on Borneo island late yesterday.
Police and buses waited to take passengers to hotels.
It was the latest in a series of accidents hitting luxury cruise liners since January, when the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.
Five of the Azamara Quest's crew suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured and needed hospital care, the ship's operator has said.
The vessel was carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew members. Some 201 of the passengers were American, according to lists provided by the ship captain to the Philippine coast guard.
Passengers from 25 countries and regions also included 98 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand and 14 from Switzerland.
The crew includes 119 Filipinos, 58 Indians and 50 Indonesians.
Azamara Club Cruises, the ship's Miami, Florida-based operator, said in a statement earlier yesterday that the ship was sailing at a top speed of only 6 knots -- 11 kilometers -per hour -- to reach Sandakan.
"Unfortunately, the ship has not been able to restore power to the air conditioning compressors," the statement said, adding that "the guest sentiment onboard continues to be calm and upbeat."
The company said the rest of the cruise would be canceled. It said it would fully refund passengers and provide each with a future cruise certificate for the amount paid for the aborted voyage. Azamara Club Cruises is part of Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
The ship had been scheduled to make several stops in Indonesia before reaching Singapore on April 12.
Instead, it drifted in the Sulu Sea, 130 kilometers south of the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef, a Philippine coast guard spokesman said.
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