Cruise Ship Adrift in Pirate Infested Indian Ocean Because of Fire

Cruise Ship Adrift in Pirate Infested Indian Ocean Because of Fire

More than a thousand passengers are “trapped” in the Costa Allegra cruise ship and are waiting for rescue after a fire broke out on board causing the luxury liner to lose power.

The ship went adrift in the Indian Ocean more than 200 miles from the Seychelles island nation off mainland Africa, an area that is known to be infested by pirates.

This is the second emergency situation for Costa Cruises this year. Costa Cruises is owned by Carnival Cruises. In January, 32 people were killed when the Costa Concordia tipped after hitting rocks off the Italian island of Giglio. To date, seven people are still missing and presumed dead because of that incident.

The Italian cruise line released a statement trying to assure everyone that no one was injured, and that the fire that broke out in the engine room in the ship's aft was quickly extinguished.

"The winds right now are blowing at about 25 knots but we are not worried because it is a big ship, so the weather is not a concern," Nicastro said.

Costa Cruises says crews are now inspecting the engine room hoping to restart the equipment necessary for the ship to become operational.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday February 29 2012, 4:43 AM EDT. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0