Stricken cruise liner being towed by fishing boat

A FRENCH fishing boat was last night slowly towing the stricken cruise liner Costa Allegra to the Seychelles as more than 1,000 passengers and crew faced increasingly tough conditions.

A total of 631 passengers, including 31 Britons, have already had to endure an uncomfortable 48 hours without hot food, lights or air-conditioning after a fire knocked out the power supply on Monday.

Many of the passengers, who have paid at least £2,500 each for the luxury month-long cruise, have been forced to stay on deck to escape the sweltering temperatures below.

Fresh supplies of food and water have been dropped via emergency helicopters. Coastguards have also warned the liner is in a part of the Indian Ocean where pirates operate.

Yesterday a plan to dock at the tiny idyll of Desroches Island – where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge holidayed in 200 – was scrapped after it became clear the coral-fringed resort would struggle to accommodate the huge numbers of crew and guests.

Instead, passengers – who paid for the use of air-conditioned cabins, full-board dining and three swimming pools – were heading towards Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles’ largest island, Mahe. It is the latest controversy to hit the ship’s owners Costa Cruises, which also ran the Costa Concordia, which sank off the coast of Italy six weeks ago, killing at least 30 people.

The Costa Allegra, which left Madagascar on Sunday, was 200 miles south of the Seychelles when the fire broke out. It is expected to reach Mahe tomorrow.

Italian coastguard officials co-ordinating the rescue from Rome insist the ship is in no immediate danger. A Costa Cruises spokesman said yesterday: ‘A French trawler called the Trevignon reached the Allegra on Monday night and it is being towed towards Mahe in the Seychelles. The company is sincerely sorry for the inconvenience and the absolute priority is to make it as short as possible.’

Remarkably, among the Britons on board is ship dancer Becky Thomas, 23, whose brother James, 19, was on the Costa Concordia when it capsized and helped to rescue other passengers. Their mother, Jayne Thomas, 48, of Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands, said: ‘I never dreamed it could happen again. I only found out when one of Rebecca’s friends sent me an email. We’ve had nothing from either Costa or the agency that Becky and James worked for.’

Costa officials were last night locked in discussions over the compensation package that would be offered to passengers.