Stricken cruise ship to be towed to US

Monday, 12 Feb, 2013 0

Passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot drinks as they wait for two tugboats to arrive to tow them to a port, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement.

The Carnival Triumph has been stranded 240km off the Yucatan Peninsula since a fire erupted in an engine room early on Sunday, immobilising the ship’s propulsion system.

No one was injured and the fire was extinguished.

The ship has been operating on backup generator power since the incident, the statement said.

The ship, which left Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and was scheduled to return there on Monday, will was due to be towed to Progreso in Mexico, however that plan has now been abandoned due to strong currents and it will now be towed to a US port instead.

Company president and chief executive Gerry Cahill said: "We had originally planned to tow the ship to Progreso, the closest port to the ship’s location early Sunday.

"Since that time, the ship has drifted about 90 miles north due to strong currents.

"This now puts the ship nearly equidistant to Mobile, Alabama and given the strength of the currents, it is preferable to head north to Mobile, rather than attempt to tow against them."

The first of two tugboats arrived last night and was tied up to the ship with a second expected in the early hours of this morning. The vessel is expected to arrive at the US port on Thursday.

There are 3,143 passengers on board and 1,086 crew. It is not known if any are from the UK.

The vessel’s next two departures, scheduled for Monday and Saturday, have been canceled. The cruise line said passengers due to travel later this week would be given refunds and discounts off a future cruise.

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Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk

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