Stricken cruise ship with 100 Britons on board limps into port
A CRUISE ship with 100 UK passengers on board has reached land after drifting in seas south of the Philippines following a fire in one of its engine rooms.
Luxury liner the Azamara Quest has reached the port of Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia after repairs were carried out on Saturday.
No passengers were injured in the blaze on Friday, but f ive crew members suffered the effects of smoke inhalation.
The ship informed coastguards in the Philippines on Saturday that its power and propulsion had been restored and that it was moving towards Sandakan.
The Foreign Office sent a consular team from the region to meet the ship.
Jeremy Scott, 45, of Pinner, Middlesex, said he had spoken to his parents Valerie and Billy Scott after they disembarked.
He said they told him that the crew member who was most severely injured was applauded by passengers from the balconies of the liner as he was taken away in an ambulance.
“They went up on the balconies and gave him a round of applause,” he said.
He said guests had earlier given a “huge” standing ovation in recognition of the crew after dinner on board the ship. “The crew put on a show in the evening after dinner,” he said
He said his parents, from Chigwell, Essex, were in good spirits.
Azamara Club Cruises, the owners of the ship, said the fire was contained in the engine room and was quickly put out.
The damage caused by the fire has meant the remainder of the cruise will be cancelled.
The scheduled 17-night cruise left Hong Kong on Monday and was due to end in Singapore on April 12.
“As a gesture of goodwill and to thank our guests for their understanding, we will be providing all guests with a full refund for their cruise,” the company said.
“Azamara Club Cruises will also be providing each guest with a future cruise certificate for 100% of the cruise fare paid for their March 26 2012 Azamara Quest sailing.”
The fire is the latest in a series of problems to hit cruise liners recently.
In January, 25 people died, with seven more p e o p l e mi s s i n g and presumed dead, after the Costa Concordia liner ran into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan i s l and of Giglio.
Six weeks later another Costa cruise ship, the Costa Allegra, was left adrift off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean after a fire on board.
Both Costa ships are owned by Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator..