Cruise ship disabled by engine fire being taken by tugboats to Ensenada

A luxury cruise ship on its way to Puerto Vallarta from Long Beach will instead be taken by tugboats to Ensenada after an engine fire that knocked out its air conditioning, hot food service, flush toilets and telephones, company officials said Monday night.

The Carnival Splendor, with 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members, was on the first day of a seven-day trip to the Mexican Riviera when a fire broke out in the aft engine room. No one was hurt but the fire disabled several systems.

In late afternoon, the tugboats were said to be en route to the 952-foot ship.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican navy have dispatched aircraft and cutters to provide assistance, the Coast Guard said.

Guests will receive a full refund, plus reimbursement for transportation costs, according to the Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines.

Passengers are being supplied with bottled water and cold food, the company said.

The ship is operating on auxiliary generators and has been unable to restore additional power. The ship is reportedly 150 miles south of San Diego.

"Conditions on board the ship are very challenging and we sincerely apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience our guests are currently enduring," said Gerry Cahill, president and chief executive officer of Carnival Cruise Lines.

The ship's scheduled itinerary was to include stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

--Tony  Perry in San Diego

Comments

[Olga]

I'm scheduled to depart from Long Beach on this ship next Sunday, November 14th. I wonder what's going to happen.

[AngelsDucksFan]

That sucks . . . but I love Ensenada, I guess you can look at it as the glass half full. That is a fun town to go around and explore with some great beaches around (even though the water will be quite cold now). Also, they got there without having to go through Tijuana!! :)

[O. Andrews]

Very unfortunate event. I was on a cruise line once when there was a brief fire in a room. Sure turned fun into concern. Very happy the cruise line stepped immediately with full refund and accommodations.

[Graham Barker]

This is just one of many problems they are going to have on the cruise ship in the next few years, sorry to say but they have been cutting corners just like the oil drilling in the Gulf.

For the past five years or more they have been on a LOW bid schedule, all the skilled US, Canadian and European workers have been removed from the maintenance programs, now they fly in Polish and Greek workers from agencies and pay them $8.50 – 10.50 per hour for electrical and mechanical work on these ship.

Lucky this time “engine room” with great fire protection, next time when it’s in the theater or open area the outcome will be very different.

[Bryan Williams]

We cruised on the same ship earlier this year and an engine malfunction on the last two days of the cruise caused us to dock and disembark late causing numerious travel issues for many of us.