Adrift in Pirate Waters: Italian ‘Costa Allegra’ Cruise Ship Fire Stops All Power for Stranded 1,000 Passengers & Crew, Is Sister Ship of Doomed ‘Costa Concordia’ (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 27, 2012
A fire today on board the Costa Allegra cruise ship has left 1,000 people stranded in pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean
It’s been just over a month since the tragedy of the luxury liner “Costa Concordia” becoming shipwrecked off the coast of Italy — of the approximate 4,200 people on board, 32 were either killed or lost at sea. Today, its smaller sister cruise ship, the “Costa Allegra,” had a fire on board, resulting in the ship’s power supply being cut and its engines not working.
The ship is now adrift in the Indian Ocean near the African coast, in a region that is considered to be pirate-infested waters.
At this point, while there is no power on the “Costa Allegra,” it is believed that the approximate 1,000 people on board are not in danger and no fatalities or major injuries have yet been reported.
Both ships are owned by Costa Cruises. Coincidence or not, a troubling pattern is emerging here for the cruise company.
From Mail Online, More than 30 British holidaymakers stranded after fire on ship run by same company as doomed Costa Concordia:
More than 30 British holidaymakers were stranded tonight after a fire on a ship run by the same company as the doomed Costa Concordia knocked out the power supply.
The Costa Allegra – with 1,049 passengers and crew on board – was drifting along the pirate-infested African coast after the engine room blaze.
It was seven days into a month long cruise in the Indian Ocean when flames erupted at back of the vessel.
Onboard sprinklers and the ship’s firefighting team managed to put out the blaze, but it knocked out power to the motors which drive the propellers.
A message said ‘Data transmission was temporarily suspended’ and webcams positioned on the front and back of the Costa Allegra had last been updated at 9.15am this morning. The fire is thought to have started shortly afterwards.
The vessel is run by Costa Cruises – the same company that ran the Costa Concordia.
Officials at the head office in Genoa said the Allegra was around 260 miles off the Seychelles and that the rescue operation was being co-ordinated by coastguards at the emergency response unit in Rome.
Cruise Ship COSTA ALLEGRA On FIRE in Pirate Waters
From ABC News, Cruise Ship Fire off Seychelles, Ship Adrift:
A fire broke out Monday in the generator room of an Italian cruise ship, leaving it adrift off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, but causing no casualties, officials said.
The accident aboard the Costa Allegra occurred about six weeks after the Concordia, another Italian cruise ship owned by the same company, capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing and presumed dead.
Asked about Monday’s Costa Allegra accident, Italian Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro told SkyTG24 TV that the ship’s captain told Italian authorities the blaze was quickly extinguished.
“The passengers are fine,” Nicastro said. But the fire left the cruise liner “without propulsion,” meaning the ship, with 636 passengers and 413 crew members aboard, was adrift in the sea because the engines weren’t working, he said.
But “the fire danger is over,” Nicastro said.
Costa Crociere SpA, which is based in Genoa, Italy, said in a statement that its ship was about 20 miles (12.5 kilometers) from Alphonse Island, one of the atolls in the Seychelles, a nation of islands and atolls that is a popular tourist destination.
Officials said coast guard boats and an aircraft were being sent to the disabled ship.
From The Sun, 30 Brits adrift on Concordia’s fire-hit sister liner:
A cruise ship from the same firm that owns the capsized Costa Concordia is adrift in the Indian Ocean after a fire knocked out its engines.
Around 30 Britons are among 1,000 people aboard the Costa Allegra which is floating without propulsion power off the Seychelles.
The liner is 200 nautical miles from the Indian archipelago near Alphonse Island. Appeals have been made to cargo ships in the area to go to its rescue.
Italian coastguard officials said all passengers and crew on the Allegra were “in good health and were informed promptly of the situation”.
It added: “The Costa Allegra’s engines are out but its communications are working.” The fire which broke out near the ship’s generators has now been put out.
The Costa Allegra is carying 636 passengers and 413 crew. It had left Diego Suarez in Madagascar on Saturday and had been expected to arrive in the Seychelles tomorrow.
Some of the the “Costa Allegra’s” amenities — fire not necessarily included:
Costa Allegra
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