Engine room fire causes blackout on Costa cruise ship

mercedes · February 27, 2009

A fire broke out overnight on a Costa Cruises ship sailing along the coast of South America, causing a blackout across the vessel.

A statement from Costa Cruises says the fire erupted at one of the four deisel generators in the engine room of the 1,680-passenger Costa Romantica but "was promptly fought and rapidly put out."

The line says passengers and crew never were in danger.

"After a long technical work, (the ship's crew) succeeded to restore the electricity on board and consequently basic services on board, propulsion included," the line says.

The Romantica was sailing from Rio de Janiero to Buenos Aires at the time of the fire. It had been scheduled to arrive in Buenos Aires early today, but as of late afternoon it remained anchored near Punta del Este, Uruguay.

A Costa spokeswoman says the line plans to disembark passengers later today in Punta del Este and transfer them to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires had been the last stop on the current voyage and passengers had been scheduled to leave the ship there early today.

"Costa Cruise apologizes for the situation (and) wishes to express its deep sorrow for the inconvenience," the line says in the statement.

The line says it will give passengers on the ship a refund equivalent to two days of the price they paid for the cruise and a voucher for a future cruise in the amount of 20% of the price they paid.