Generator fire cripples Carnival ship in Caribbean

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http://news.excite.com/news/r/000112/12/leisure-carnival-fire

Generator fire cripples Carnival ship in CaribbeanUpdated 12:19 PM ET

January 12, 2000MIAMI (Reuters) - A fire broke out aboard the cruise ship Celebration Wednesday, leaving the vessel adrift in the Caribbean for hours without engine and main electrical power, according to owner Carnival Cruise Lines.

None of the 1,586 passengers or 667 crew were injured by the fire, which began shortly after midnight in one of three auxiliary generators as the Celebration sailed about 100 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, Carnival said.

The blaze, limited to the generator, was quickly extinguished, the company said.

"The ship was adrift for about six hours," said Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. "There was a loss of air conditioning and toilets."

The Celebration, built in 1987 and midway through a seven-day cruise from New Orleans, ran on emergency power for much of the night and was now headed towards Montego Bay, she said.

Full lighting was restored after about four hours, but the ship's toilets and air conditioning were not operating in late morning, she said.

Passengers will leave the ship at Montego Bay and will be flown back to New Orleans, de la Cruz said.

Carnival said all fares and on-board charges for drinks and other extras will be refunded to passengers, who will be offered another seven-day Carnival cruise, free.

Carnival, a unit of cruise giant Carnival Corp., also announced that a seven-day cruise on Celebration scheduled to begin Sunday was cancelled. Passengers booked on that voyage will get fare refunds and a 50 percent discount on another cruise, the company said in a news release.

Neither the cause nor the costs of the fire had been determined, de la Cruz said. Carnival in 1998 lost about $24 million in revenues and took a $7 million charge against profits after extensive fire damage put the Ecstasy cruise ship out of service for nearly two mont

-- hhmmm (fire@on.water), January 12, 2000

Answers

" ... fire, which began shortly after midnight in one of three auxiliary generators ... "

-- there's (that@witching.hour), January 12, 2000.

"auxilary generators..."?

What was the initial problem that led to this?

" ran on emergency power for much of the night and was now headed towards Montego Bay, she said. "

Don't you just miss real investigative reporting? Can you smell spin? Weren't they already running on "emergency power" when the generator fire started? Doesn't this indicate that there were more serious problems prior to the actual fire?

Something fishy here.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 12, 2000.


Agreed. This sounds like a Y2K problem, and then the usual media spin and coverup.

-- (ira@holfter.org), January 12, 2000.

My family and I took a cruise on the Celebration in late July 1999. The first stop (after 2 days at sea) was Montego Bay Jamaica. Just before we were to dock the engines gave out and we sat about 2 miles from port for around an hour. As soon as we docked the whole crew was scrambling to make sure all passengers made it to their respective destinations.

Personally I think this was not Y2K related.....probably just negligent engine maintenance on the crew.

FWIW,

EXIT 316

-- Exit 316 (Exit316@truth.com), January 12, 2000.


These ships have had continuual problems.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), January 12, 2000.


Naw, never said it was Y2k... nothing is really anyway, right? :-)

My problem regarding this is the stupid reporting that is clearly apparent... no digging just report about the fire and not the deeper reasons and initial failures.

This article suggests that there was a redirect in information away from what the real problem was and what kind of real danger the crew and passengers might have been in.

What WAS the initial problem that led to the use of an auxilary generator?

That's why I say this article reports a spin on the true story.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 12, 2000.


Actually, this sounds very much like a Y2K problem.

-- (ossan@itwel.org), January 12, 2000.

Please make this Y2K-related by telling me that this cruise was full of pollies and DGI's who wanted to make a "no problemo" statement to their GI and Doomer friends back home.;)

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 12, 2000.


How does one attribute this to a Y2K related failure ?

-- XOR (drwizzard@usa.net), January 12, 2000.

Just rename this Forum the Failures, Disasters + Other Hot Topics Watering Hole and that should stop the bickering ... ;^)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), January 12, 2000.


rofl WW and A&L :-)

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 12, 2000.


Y2K FAILURE: CAARNIVAL CRUISE LINES SHIP DISABLED BY FIRE IN ELECTRICAL GENERATOR

The following Press Release was intercepted by offices adjacent to those of the Flordia onshore agent of Carnival Cruise lInes, where it evidently was delivered by mistake by Western Union. Quote:

On Wednesday, the Carnival Cruise Line ship aptly named "Celebration Wednesday" was disabled by a generator fire oringinating in 35Kw standby diesel generators located in the engine room of the vessel. When asked how the fire orignated the Captain of the "Celebration Wednesday" reported to Jennifer de LA CRUZ[!!!!get it????] that the heavy duty extension cord which connects the "Celebration" to the Beach popped loose from its socket as the ship proceeded toward international waters. At a distance of 1 mile, 721 feet offshore, the extension cord suddnely SPROINGED!!!! tight and snapped free of the outlet, causing the ship to lose power as its connection with "THE GRID" was severed. Jennifer de LA CRUZ reports, that the ship is able to withstand distances of up to 1 mile, 720 ft.,(or 6,000 ft,) or 2000 Yards, and is thus Y2K compliant (Yard Two Thousand). However the 721st foot was too much for the Celebration's critical infrastructure cord, and the additional load caused all onboard systems to crash.

UPI

-- Squirrel HUnter (nuts@upina.tree), January 12, 2000.


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