Costa cruise ship adrift after fire

 

Costa cruise ship is in trouble after a fire broke out on board leaving it adrift off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The accident aboard the Costa Allegra came about six weeks after the Costa Concordia, owned by the same company, capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing presumed dead. Italian Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro said the Allegra's captain had said the blaze was quickly extinguished. "The passengers are fine," Cmdr. Nicastro said. But the fire left the cruise liner "without propulsion," meaning the ship, with 636 passengers and 413 crew, was adrift in the sea because the engines were not working. But "the fire danger is over," he said. Costa Crociere, which is based in Genoa, Italy, said that its ship was about 20 miles from Alphonse Island, one of the atolls in the Seychelles, a nation of islands and atolls that is a popular tourist destination. Coast guard boats and an aircraft were being sent to the disabled ship. "The fire did not spread to any other area of the ship. There were no injuries or casualties," it said. The cruise company said that a general emergency alarm was "promptly sounded" as a precaution, and that all passengers and crew not involved in the emergency reach muster stations. After the Concordia cruise ship struck a reef off Italy's tiny Tuscan island on January 13, its captain was arrested and several other officials were placed under investigation. When the Concordia listed to one side, many people had not been evacuated on life boats and some jumped into the sea. Concordia passengers said that the order to evacuate came about an hour after the ship was speared by the reef and started taking on water. In the latest incident the Seychelles coast guard and air wing mobilised, and an aircraft was flying over the ship. The island's port authority sent two tugs to the stricken ship. "And there are fishing vessels in the vicinity, large ones, that are going to provide support as well," a spokeswoman said. "They have assistance coming to them.'" The Italian-built, eight deck Allegra had left northern Madagascar, off Africa's south-east coast, on Saturday and was cruising toward the port of Victoria, Seychelles' capital, when the fire erupted.It had been due in Victoria on Tuesday.