The stricken luxury cruise ship Azamara Quest sails towards the port of Sandakan on the island of Borneo Photo: REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
In a pleasant contrast to events surrounding the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the passengers aboard the fire damaged cruise ship Azamara Quest are reported to have high praise for the actions of the captain and crew. A fire broke out in one of the ship’s engine rooms on Friday. The fire was extinguished though five crew members suffered injuries due to smoke inhalation. No passengers were injured. The ship drifted for approximately 24 hours in Philippine waters until the crew was able to restart some of the ship’s engines and return electrical and propulsion power. The ship reached the harbour of Sandakan city in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah on Borneo island late on Sunday.
“I’m glad I’m safe,” ship passenger Dorothy Irvine, a retired school principal from Toronto, told reporters at a Sandakan hotel. “The Azamara crew kept us informed all the time and went beyond the call of duty. The captain was phenomenal.”
Margaret Whawell, of Melbourne, Australia, said there had been “no panic, no chaos, everything was under control.”
Stricken Azamara cruise ship: passengers praise captain and crew for rescue
Passengers of a fire-damaged luxury cruise ship lauded the captain and crew Monday for maintaining order and bringing them safely ashore in Malaysia after 24 hours adrift in Philippine waters.
“Everything is normal except that it’s very hot there because there is no air conditioning,” New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Brian Smythe told reporters before the passengers disembarked. “The New Zealanders I spoke to are fine. They were well taken care of.”
The fire on the Azamara Quest had been extinguished immediately, but five crew members suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured and needed hospital care, the ship’s operator has said.
A Sandakan hospital staff member said a Guatemalan man was being treated, but could not give other details.
The 11-deck vessel, which features a casino, spa and shopping boutiques, was carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew members. Over one-third, or 201, of the passengers were American, according to lists of passenger and crew nationalities provided by the ship captain to the Philippine coast guard.
The passengers from 25 countries also included 98 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand and 14 from Switzerland.
Azamara Club Cruises, the ship’s Miami, Florida-based operator, said in a statement earlier on Sunday that the ship was sailing at a top speed of only 6 knots (6.9 miles per hour) to reach Sandakan.