Costa Allegra

Sixteen months after the Carnival Splendor was blacked out by an engine room fire in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, another Carnival owned cruise ship is drifting, dead in the water, after an engine room fire.  The Costa Allegra, a cruise ship owned by Costa Cruises, a Carnival Corporation subsidiary, had a fire in her after generator room and is now adrift, without propulsion and operating on emergency generators, approximately 200 miles SW of the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean, near Alphonse Island.  There are reported to be 636 passengers and 413 crew aboard the ship which departed Madagascar on Saturday.  The fire was put out before it could spread to other areas in the ship by the ship’s shipboard fire-extinguishing system and the ship’s firefighting squads. No injuries were reported.

The Indian Ocean near the Seychelles has been the scene of numerous attacks by pirates. The Seychelles’ maritime authority have dispatched a ship, rescue boats and aircraft to the Costa Allegra.  Tugs are also reported to be on their way to the crippled ship.

The Costa Allegra is currently believed to on charter to Paquet Cruises. Both Costa and Paquet are owned by Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise operator.  In November of 2010, the Carnival Splendor, a sister ship to the Costa Concordia, which sank off Giglio slightly over a month and a half ago, had a fire in her after engine room while on a cruise off Mexico.  The ship was blacked out for several days until it could be towed back to San Diego from whence it had departed.

Carnival Splendor Catches Fire Off Mexico, Ship Dead in the Water

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing on the news on the Costa Allegra.