A fire broke out on the passenger/roro ferry Caribbean Fantasy as she was approaching San Juan, Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning. A reported 512 passengers were evacuated from the burning ship, roughly a mile off Puerto Rico’s north coast. The fire was said to have started in the engine room and to have spread. Thus far only four injuries to passengers and crew have been reported and no one has been reported to have died or to be missing.
Caribbean Fantasy was built in 1989 and is registered in Panama. The passenger/roro ferry is 176m long with a 27m beam and is 27,362 gross tonnes.
Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the news.
Until this report I was not familiar with this “cruise line” – it is not !! They operate from Santo Domingo to San Juan as a ferry with cabins available. Their website is in Spanish and their vessel is an old (1989) Japanese ferry.
One wonders if the USCG in San Juan will allow the vessel to continue to operate – if it can – after this incident.
Good Watch.
Previous names of this vessel include MS Chihuahua Star 2011, MS Victory, 2008. Anyone found more information such as its Japanese name and route?
Good Watch.
One site suggests that the ship was built in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan (#1174) and owned by Higashi Nippon Ferry for its first ten years. (http://ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=8814263&lang=en) It appears that the ship was sold to Grandi Navi Veloci and operated by Grimaldi Lines between 1998-2008 under Maltese registry. She was named Victory and appears to have been operated in the Med and Aegean. From 2009-2011 she was named Chihuahua Star and operated in the Caribbean by Baja Ferries/American Cruise Ferries.
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=93390