Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

Current Events and Musings => News of the Day => Topic started by: MuffyBee on February 10, 2013, 10:53:59 PM



Title: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 10, 2013, 10:53:59 PM
Not a good week for cruise ships... it appears there are no injuries in this case.  But can you imagine having to stay out on the open deck?  Probably no hot meals or cold drinks.  Reminds me of the Costa Allegra, when they had an engine fire.  They were way out in the Seychelles, and it took longer to get them to port.  Fortunately, it looks like the Carnival Triumph should be in port soon.
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=12792.msg1511630#msg1511630

http://www.khou.com/home/Fire-reported-on-Carnival-cruise-ship-no-injuries-190600041.html
UPDATE: Stranded Carnival cruise ship to be towed to Progeso, Mexico
February 10, 2013

GALVESTON, Texas — A fire on a cruise ship has caused the vessel to operate on emergency generator power.
Officials say the ship Carnival Triumph experienced an engine room fire Sunday morning while the vessel was sailing approximately 150 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
There are 3,143 guests and 1,086 crew members on board the four-day cruise that departed Galveston on Thursday.
The ship’s automatic fire extinguishing systems activated and the fire was contained to the aft engine room, according to Carnival.
Carnival Triumph is currently without propulsion and the ship is operating on emergency generator power. The ship’s technical crew is continuing to assess the damage and attempting to restore power.
Officials said that a tugboat is en route to the ship’s location and will tow the vessel to Progreso, Mexico, which is the closest port to the ship’s current location, which will allow guests to disembark and get them home as quickly as possible. The ship is expected to arrive in Progreso Wednesday afternoon.
There were no casualties or injuries to guests or crew.
All guests have been asked to remain in the ship’s public areas and open decks.
Another ship, the Carnival Elation, is currently on scene and transferring additional food and beverage provisions to the Carnival Triumph, officials said.
Carnival says all guests on the current voyage will receive a full refund inclusive of gratuities and any transportation expenses.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 12, 2013, 10:54:59 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fire-carnival-cruise-ship-strands-4-200-article-1.1261258
Foul conditions aboard stranded Carnival cruise ship Triumph: Passengers describe 'sewage running down the walls' and people acting like 'savages'
Since a fire broke out in an engine room Sunday morning, the Carnival Triumph has been drifting off the coast of Mexico. A total of 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew have been forced to make do with cold food, no hot water, sweltering indoor temperatures, and few working toilets. A tow boat is expected Thursday, after an initial plan to tow the ship to a port in Mexico was scrapped.
Published February 11, 2013, Updated February 12, 2013

 ::snipping2::
Desperate passengers stranded aboard the Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico are describing foul conditions — including "sewage running down the walls and floors"  — and fear the situation will only deteriorate before a tow boat finally arrives Thursday.

"Conditions are getting worse by the hour," passenger Debra Rightmire texted to ABC News. "Cabin carpets are wet with urine and water. Toilets are overflowing inside cabins. We are having to sleep in the hallways."

Another passenger said some people are sleeping in tents on the deck because of a pungent smell caused by the lack of proper refrigeration.

"We stood in line for four hours to get a hamburger," Shelly Crosby texted to ABC News.

A fire in the Triumph’s engine room Sunday morning crippled the enormous ship 150 miles off the coast of Mexico, leaving 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members on board with limited power. No one was injured.

The ship set sail from Galveston, Texas, on Feb. 7 and was due to return from Mexico on Feb. 11. After the fire, officials planned to have the boat towed to a port in Mexico on Wednesday, but said Monday night that strong currents sent the vessel adrift 90 miles. Carnival now hopes to have the ship towed to Mobile, Ala., on Thursday.

Brent Nutt, whose wife, Bethany, is on board, spoke to CNN Sunday night about conditions on the Triumph, which is relying on backup power generators.

"She was crying ... and she just wants off of the ship," Nutt said. "I mean, it's horrible. There's no running water. There's no power. They are having to use the restroom in buckets and bags."

"It's like a bunch of savages on there," he added. "If you get on the blogs, they're saying that people are fighting over food and stuff."

Toby Barlow told CNN that his wife, Ann, a passenger on the ship, texted that the plumbing failed and people were defecating in bags and urinating in showers.
More...



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 12, 2013, 11:34:59 AM
Disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ship now being towed to Alabama
12 Feb, 2013


The operators of a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a weekend engine fire said Monday evening that the craft had drifted so far north of its original position that they now will tow the ship to Mobile, Alabama, instead of their original plan for Progreso, Mexico.

Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement that strong currents caused the vessel, the Carnival Triumph, to drift about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of its original position off the Yucatan Peninsula.

<snipped>

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/nation-world/disabled-carnival-triumph-cruise-ship-now-being-towed-to-alabama/slideshow/18464244.cms


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 12, 2013, 11:44:32 AM
Feces, water reported on floor of disabled Carnival cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico
Published February 12, 2013


<snipped>

"There's water and feces all over the floor," said Brent Nutt, who was told about the conditions by his wife who is a passenger on board. "It's not the best conditions. You would think Carnival would have something in place to get these people off the ship."

Passengers also are getting sick and throwing up, he said, adding that his wife told him: "The whole boat stinks extremely bad."

To be sure, passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, and were just given a new destination: Mobile, Ala.

Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement Monday that the Carnival Triumph had drifted so far north of its original position that it will be towed to the southern U.S. port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico.

Cahill said strong Gulf currents caused the Triumph to drift about 90 miles north of its original position off the Yucatan Peninsula.

Cahill's statement said the ship should arrive in Mobile on Thursday and that the change will allow for less complicated re-entry for passengers without passports.

The ship, which left Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and was scheduled to return there Monday, will instead be towed to Mobile with its 3,143 passengers 1,086 crew members. They are due to arrive in Alabama on Thursday.

<snipped>

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/12/disabled-carnival-cruise-ship-en-route-to-alabama-after-engine-room-fire/?test=latestnews


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 13, 2013, 09:16:17 AM
 ::MonkeyNoNo::

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/elderly-disabled-struggling-carnival-cruise-ship-passenger/story?id=18486830
Elderly, Disabled Struggling on Carnival Cruise Ship, Passenger Says
February 13, 2013

 ::snipping2::
"Elderly and handicap are struggling, the smell is gross," passenger Ann Barlow text-messaged ABC News overnight. "Our room is leaking sewage."

The head of Carnival Cruise Lines said the British-U.S.-owned company was working hard to ensure the thousands of passengers stranded on the disabled ship were as comfortable as possible while the vessel was being towed to a port in Alabama.

"I need to apologize to our guests and to our families that have been affected by a very difficult situation," Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO Gerry Cahill said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
 ::snipping2::
U.S. Coast Guard officials say the passengers are safe, if somewhat uncomfortable.

But the destruction aboard the ship, the compensation to passengers, the costs of returning them home, the towing and other expenses could hurt the Doral, Fla.-based cruising colossus, at least temporarily.

"The financial cost to Carnival is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars, some estimates as high as $80 million," ABC News travel and lifestyle editor Genevieve Shaw Brown said. "It remains to be seen how badly this will hurt their brand."

If all goes as scheduled and tugboats nudge the ship into port in Mobile Thursday, Alabama Cruise Terminal general manager Sheila Gurganus said, the disembarking passengers will be met by a medical triage center and extra security in case they need it.

The cruise line said it has been busily making arrangements for the ship's passengers when they reach the shore.

More than 1,500 hotel rooms have been reserved in Mobile and New Orleans and more than 20 chartered flights have been booked to fly passengers back to Houston Friday after they have had a chance to rest, Cahill said. For those wishing to get home sooner, the company is organizing charter buses to Houston and Galveston.

The Carnival Triumph departed Galveston last Thursday with 3,143 guests and 1,086 crew on board for a Mexican cruise, which was due to return Monday.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 13, 2013, 09:23:11 AM
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130213/NEWS/130213007/Stench-cruise-ship-being-towed-shore-sickens-passengers
Stench on cruise ship being towed to shore sickens passengers
February 13, 2013

(3 pgs)

 ::snipping2::
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday that it has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The NTSB said the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation because the ship carries a Bahamian flag.The Carnival Triumph was left dead in the water early Sunday after a fire in an engine room.

Although the blaze was contained, Carnival said, it knocked out the power that runs air conditioning, elevators and toilets in passenger areas and kitchen equipment used to prepare hot meals.
The vessel's freshwater system was knocked down until Monday, Carnival said, when toilets in some areas of the ship were working again. Enough power was restored to allow for some hot food at a buffet.

Still, conditions have remained difficult, with passengers relaying stories of long lines for meals and people sleeping on open decks.

It emerged Tuesday that the ship had been listing about 4.5 degrees on Monday, which Carnival attributed to strong winds.

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the list diminished to about 2 degrees Tuesday after tugboats began towing the vessel. The listing poses no safety risk, Carnival said.

The cruise line evaluated options and decided the safest alternative was to tow the ship back to port, Gulliksen said.

Because Carnival ships tend to sail full, there may have been no space to accommodate passengers on other ships, retired cruise line executive Art Sbarsky said.
 ::snipping2::
The Carnival Triumph fire is just the latest in a string of serious incidents involving cruise ships.

The most serious was the capsizing of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 in Italy that left 32 passengers dead.

Video at Link


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 13, 2013, 10:11:18 PM
Passenger on stranded Carnival cruise compares deck to shanty town
Published February 13, 2013


Some 4,000 people aboard a crippled cruise ship some have likened to a floating toilet were hoping to reach dry land and an end to their hellish voyage by tomorrow afternoon.

The Carnival Triumph disabled Feb. 10 when an engine room fire left it adrift off the coast of Mexico was being towed by tugboats toward a berth in Mobile, Ala. by Thursday. Passengers and crew have described a nightmarish scene of overflowing toilets, spoiled food and filthy hot conditions aboard the 893–foot vessel.

<snipped>

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/13/disabled-carnival-cruise-ship-had-prior-mechanical-trouble-on-january-voyage/



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 14, 2013, 12:35:34 AM
(http://a57.foxnews.com/www.foxnews.com/images/root_images/0/0/HELLSHIP_20130213_213636.jpg)


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 14, 2013, 03:36:29 PM
Disabled Carnival cruise ship faces new delay in getting to port as towline snaps on one of the tugboats dragging it to shore
Thursday, February 14, 2013, 2:52 PM


A broken towline has left a crippled Carnival Cruise Line dead in the water Thursday – just hours after it began slowly limping toward the Alabama shore.

One of the towlines from the four tugboats pushing the 900-foot cruise ship snapped, Carnival told the Daily News.

That left frustrated passengers – trapped for several days on the luxury liner without fresh food or clean bathrooms – once again at the mercy of the Gulf of Mexico waters.

The ship was scheduled to land in Mobile, Ala., midday Thursday, but a stiff headwind had pushed its arrival time back to anywhere between 8 and 11 p.m. central time, a Carnival spokesman said.

It’s not clear how long the broken towline will further delay the ship’s arrival.

The vessel has been without propulsion since a fire broke out in the engine room Feb. 10, three days after the Cozumel-bound ship left Galveston, Tex., with 3,143 guests and 1,086 staffers aboard. It was supposed to return to the small port city outside Houston on Feb. 11.

<snipped>

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/passengers-crippled-cruise-ship-face-long-bus-rides-article-1.1264072


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 14, 2013, 07:52:01 PM
Moor delay: Carnival’s cruise from hell won’t dock till dark
Published February 14, 2013


The disabled ship entered Mobile Bay about 4 p.m. Central time Thursday, but is still about 30 miles from the cruise terminal in Mobile.

The cruise was initially supposed to arrive sometime Thursday afternoon, but the company later pushed the expected time to sometime between 8 and 11 p.m. The latest problem is a broken towline that is creating a new delay, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

A Carnival spokesman said the towing of the ship was taking longer than anticipated. Further, the spokesman said there is only one working elevator on the ship, which will complicate getting people on shore once they dock.

<snipped>

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/14/stranded-carnival-cruise-expected-to-dock-in-alabama-after-four-days-with/




Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 14, 2013, 11:44:36 PM
Carnival’s cruise from hell docking in Alabama port
Published February 14, 2013

The Carnival Triumph, a cruise ship passengers compared to a shanty town due to reports of vile conditions onboard, limped into a in Mobile, Ala., port Thursday, four days after the ship lost power due to a fire in its engine room.

Pulled by a tugboat at a maddeningly slow pace, the ship was finally arriving in the port at about 9:15 p.m. Central time Thursday after taking about six grueling hours to be towed from the mouth of Mobile Bay some 30 miles to the port.

Anxious passengers were lining the decks waving, cheering loudly and whistling to those on shore, but had hours to wait before they can walk on solid ground.

<snipped>

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/14/stranded-carnival-cruise-expected-to-dock-in-alabama-after-four-days-with/


(http://a57.foxnews.com/www.foxnews.com/images/root_images/0/0/SHIP397270_20130214_221732.jpg)



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: Tamikosmom on February 15, 2013, 11:32:03 AM
Passengers disembark after Carnival’s cruise from hell arrives in Alabama port
Published February 15, 2013


Passengers who finally escaped the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph were on the move early Friday, some checked into the comfort of hotels, others on buses or headed to charter flights home after five numbing days at sea on a ship paralyzed by an engine-room fire.

The vacation ship carrying some 4,200 people docked late Thursday in Mobile to raucous cheers from passengers weary of overflowing toilets, food shortages and foul odors.

"Sweet Home Alabama!" read one of the homemade signs passengers affixed alongside the 14-story ship as many celebrated at deck rails lining several levels of the stricken ship. The ship's horn loudly blasted several times as four tugboats pulled the crippled ship to shore at about 9:15 p.m. CST. Some gave a thumbs-up sign and flashes from cameras and cellphones lit the night.

<snipped>

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/15/stranded-carnival-cruise-expected-to-dock-in-alabama-after-four-days-with/



(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/021513_an_kendall_640.jpg)


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 16, 2013, 10:05:39 PM
http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Cruise-passengers-return-home-feds-probe-fire/jHf1dIN1_kiOVyrQhcT-lg.cspx
Cruise passengers return home, feds probe fire
February 16, 2013

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Passengers of the Carnival Triumph tried to put the memories of their nightmarish cruise behind them Friday, boarding buses and planes for home after five harrowing days aboard a vessel adrift at sea without power or working toilets.

Many of the roughly 3,000 passengers were bused to New Orleans to catch a flight home or to the ship's home port in Galveston, Texas. And as if they hadn't suffered enough, one of the buses broke down during the two-hour ride to New Orleans. Passengers on a different bus reported losing their luggage.

"I'm very frustrated that now our luggage is gone and missing," said Deborah Day of Plano, Texas, adding that she had made sure to check through every transfer point herself, only to lose it when she trusted Carnival to put it on a separate truck instead of the bus she was riding on.

But she had kind words for the crew aboard the disabled ship, adding, "Those people were incredible."


Other passengers were taking things more in stride as they got closer to home.
 ::snipping2::
The cleanup seemed daunting. Passengers described water-logged carpet, sewage seeping through the walls, overflowing toilets and a stench so bad people choked when they tried to endure it.

But by most accounts, the crew did as much as they could, using disinfectant and picking up plastic bags of excrement after toilets stopped working.

Six investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were in Mobile to look into the cause of the engine-room fire, which happened some 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said the agency was working with the Coast Guard and the Bahamas Maritime Authority, which will serve as the primary investigative agency.

The Bahamian government is taking the lead in the investigation because the Triumph is a Bahamian-flagged vessel and it was in international waters at the time of the incident, Holloway said.

The NTSB will be studying the mechanics of the ship "just like we would in any investigation, trying to determine what caused the fire, where the breakdown was," Holloway said. The investigation could also look at the ship's emergency procedures for passengers, he said.

Passengers described a horrifying scene after the fire. Some said they smelled smoke and received conflicting instructions about every 15 minutes over the PA system. Others ran for lifeboats.

No one was hurt in the fire, and just two people were taken off the ship for medical conditions as a precaution.
More...



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 16, 2013, 10:06:43 PM
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-carnival-cruise-lawsuit-20130215,0,490944.story
First passenger lawsuit filed over over crippled Carnival cruise
February 15, 2013

MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for the past five days.

After disembarking in Mobile early Friday, Cassie Terry, 25, of Lake Jackson, Texas, hired attorneys Wayne Collins and Brent Allison in the Houston area, who filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami.

The suit charges Carnival with failing to provide a seaworthy ship and sanitary conditions, describing the ship as "a floating toilet, a floating petri dish, a floating hell."
More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 16, 2013, 10:11:35 PM
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130216-no-central-agency-oversees-inspects-cruise-ships.ece
No central agency oversees, inspects cruise ships,
February 16, 2013

MIAMI -- A byzantine maze of maritime rules and regulations, fragmented oversight and a patchwork quilt of nations that do business with cruise lines make it tough for consumers to assess the health and safety record of the ship they're about to board in what for many is the vacation of a lifetime.
Want to know about a ship's track record for being clean? Want to assess how sanitary the food is? It's not that easy to find, in part because there's no one entity or country that oversees or regulates the industry with its fleet of ships that are like mini cities floating at sea.
In the case of Carnival Cruise Lines, the owner of the Carnival Triumph that spent days in the Gulf of Mexico disabled after an engine fire, the company is incorporated in Panama, its offices are based in Miami and its ships fly under the Bahamian flag - a matrix that is not unusual in the cruise line industry.
For potential passengers seeking ship information, there's no central database that can be viewed to determine a track record of safety or health inspections. No one agency regulates everything from the cruise line's mechanical worthiness to the sanitation of its kitchens.
 ::snipping2::
And when something goes wrong, as it did on Triumph, there are limits to how much the Coast Guard can investigate.
These are not new issues - they had been raised by members of Congress before the Triumph incident.
"This horrible situation involving the Carnival Triumph is just the latest example in a long string of serious and troubling incidents involving cruise ships," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who led a committee hearing on cruise safety last year.
Last year, after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Giglio, Italy, Rockefeller held a Commerce Committee hearing to examine deficiencies in the cruise line industry's compliance with federal safety, security, and environmental standards and review industry regulations.
"As I remarked then, they seem to have two lives: One is at port, where the Coast Guard can monitor their operations; the other is at sea where, it appears once they are beyond three nautical miles from shore, the world is theirs," Rockefeller said in letter he wrote this week to Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr., the commandant of the Coast Guard. "The Carnival Triumph incident only serves to further validate this view."
More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 16, 2013, 10:42:42 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/travel/cruise-fires/
Spate of fires poses problems for cruise industry
February 15, 2013

Editor's note: Tim Lister produced "Cruise to Disaster," a CNN documentary on the capsizing of the Costa Concordia.
(CNN) -- The last few years have seen a rash of engine fires aboard cruise ships -- many of which have led to an almost total loss of electrical power. Passengers on board the Carnival Triumph are but the latest to endure the consequences: a lack of hot food and water, a loss of air conditioning and refrigeration, sanitation systems on the verge of collapse.
Beyond these inconveniences are more serious issues: a loss of engine-power to the vessel and the lack of stabilization. If a ship is on the high seas in rough weather there is a greater risk of injury as the vessel pitches and rolls. The situation is further aggravated if tugs are days -- not hours -- away.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board warned after one such fire that "Hazardous situations that may result from a ship losing propulsive power include vessel grounding, inability to avoid severe weather conditions, and passenger evacuation at sea."

 ::snipping2::
Catalog of engine fires
There has been a spate of engine fires aboard passenger ships around the world in recent years.

2011: In the Indian Ocean, the Costa Allegra suffered an engine fire that left it without power for three days in tropical heat of nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire broke out in the electrical generator room. There were no casualties but tugs were needed to tow the ship to Mahe in the Seychelles. As with the Triumph, backed-up toilets and a lack of water were among the problems. Passengers said after disembarking they were fearful of pirates or rough weather in the stranded ship
.
2011: The Azamara Quest -- in the midst of a Southeast Asian cruise -- was disabled by an engine fire and drifted in southern Philippine waters. Propulsion was restored the next day and the vessel limped into Sandakan in Malaysia.

2011: The Ocean Star Pacific, a Mexican liner with 522 passengers and 226 crew, was stranded by a generator fire a few miles off the Pacific coast of Mexico. The passengers were evacuated.

2011: On September 15 a fire in the engine room of the MS Nordlys killed two of the crew. All 207 passengers were taken off the ship, which was off the coast of Norway.

2010: During the early hours of November 8 an engine room fire on the Carnival Splendor 200 miles off the coast of Mexico disabled the ship. The fire broke out in the aft engine room and took several hours to extinguish. No one was hurt but the cruise director, John Heald, said later that "the smoke was so intense and so thick that, even with breathing apparatus on, the teams could not get close to the source" of the fire.
More...

Video at Link


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 19, 2013, 03:16:54 PM
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/collin/Local-couple-questioned-in-Triumph-investigation-191759911.html
Frisco couple quizzed in cruise ship probe
February 19, 2013

FRISCO — Lloyd and Cheryl Bass were questioned inside a bar on the fourth deck of the Carnival Triumph in the final hours of a trip that lasted days longer than it should have.
"There was an investigator from the NTSB, one from the Coast Guard, and three Carnival executives," Lloyd said.  "The NTSB investigator primarily went through and asked the most questions."
"They were asking things like, 'Did you read the safety information on the back of your door?'" he recalled.  "He asked us what we did when we heard the fire alarm.  We looked at each other and said, 'What fire alarm?'"
"We didn't hear a fire alarm.  Some people from lower levels heard and alarm, but we didn't on our level," Lloyd added.
The Coast Guard interviewed passengers from 33 cabins along with 21 crew members. Additional crew members will likely be questioned soon.
The Coast Guard and NTSB say they'll likely be done with their on-site investigation this week, but the entire probe into what happened will likely take six months.
More...

Video at Link


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 19, 2013, 03:20:55 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/17/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html
Investigators find fire clues aboard crippled Carnival Triumph
February 18, 2013

New York (CNN) -- Investigators know roughly where the flames erupted in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph, but it could be a year before they learn what caused the fire, which left the massive ship adrift for days in the Gulf of Mexico.
"We know that the fire originated in front of a generator," Patrick Cuty, a senior marine investigator for the U.S. Coast Guard, told CNN on Sunday.
"You can see the ignition marks on the wall."
There are three generators in the engine room where the fire broke out. Three other generators are in a second engine room that wasn't involved in the fire, Cuty said.
The same ship encountered a problem in January with its propulsion system, according to a notice posted on the website of Carnival senior cruise director John Heald.
"We'll know by end of the next week whether the generator is the same one that was having an issue, an anomaly, in January, according to passengers we interviewed from previous cruises," Cuty said.
It could take up to a year to determine the cause of the fire, however, because of the amount of work involved. It includes a painstaking analysis of the ship's records, automated data and wiring.
More...

Videos & a photo slide show at above link.


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 19, 2013, 03:22:23 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/coast-guard-triumph-fire-leak-article-1.1267592
Coast Guard: Cause of Carnival Triumph’s engine-room fire was a leak in fuel oil line
Investigation into the disabled ship could take six months, a Coast Guard official said Monday. Bahamian authorities are leading the investigation because the vessel was in international waters at the time the fire broke out and the ship lost power last week.
February 19, 2013



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 19, 2013, 03:25:01 PM
http://business.time.com/2013/02/19/is-500-enough-for-enduring-the-cruise-from-hell/
Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?
February 19, 2013

So you’ve survived for five days stranded at sea aboard the Carnival Triumph. The ship had no working toilets, sewage dripped from walls, and the whole place smelled “like a hot port-o-potty.” Here’s $500 for your troubles.

Last week, after the Triumph was finally tugged into Alabama and passengers kissed solid ground in relief, Carnival announced that all passengers on the ship—which was hit with a fire in an engine room and left without power in the Gulf of Mexico—would receive some compensation. The offer included a full refund for the cruise and travel expenses, reimbursement for nearly everything they spent on board the ship, a credit good toward a future cruise, plus a check for $500.

To some, the offer didn’t exactly seem generous. “I would have expected more really,” said travel expert George Hobica, who runs the deal-finding site AirfareWatchdog.com. “I think giving them their money back and $500 is pretty cheap.”

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of CruiseCritic.com, had basically the same reaction. “What these people went through was worth more than $500,” she said. “It’s a little bit insulting. It’s almost as if Carnival would have been better off offering nothing than to go so low.”
 ::snipping2::
To minimize the public-relations damage, to salvage some sort of goodwill with affected customers, and also to cut off lawsuits before they are filed, travel operators are known to offer compensation during the worst situations. Concordia passengers were offered around $15,000, on top of a refund and travel expenses.

At the time of the offer, a lawyer representing the cruise line told the Associated Press that there were big upsides for passengers who accepted the payment: “The big advantage that they have is an immediate response, no legal expenses, and they can put this whole thing behind them.”

Funny: The cruise lines involved in these disasters also want to avoid legal expenses and put the whole thing behind them.
More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 20, 2013, 06:22:58 PM
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/20/us-carnival-triumph-classaction-idUSBRE91J1DK20130220
Triumph passengers bring class action against Carnival
February 20, 2013

(Reuters) - The owner of the stricken Carnival Triumph cruise ship was hit by a lawsuit seeking class action status for stranding more than 3,000 passengers for five days on a ship without electricity or adequate sanitation.

Carnival Corp should be held liable for physical and emotional anguish inflicted on the passengers as well as punitive damages, according to the lawsuit by Matt and Melissa Crusan. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in U.S. federal court in Miami.
 ::snipping2::
The lawsuit alleged the world's largest cruise company failed to provide a seaworthy ship. In addition, "motivated solely by financial gain" Carnival negligently brought the Triumph to Mobile, where it would be repaired, rather than a closer Mexican port. That decision extended the trip by 350 miles, the plaintiffs said.

Passengers were exposed to disease as sewage and "human waste sloshed around the vessel as the vessel listed while drifting and/or while under tow," according to the lawsuit.
 ::snipping2::
The complaint said that the Triumph ticket limits passengers' rights to bring a class action, but that provision should be voided by Carnival's negligence in using an unseaworthy vessel and not towing the ship to the nearest port.

Carnival has offered Triumph passengers $500, reimbursement for their transportation and many onboard costs, and given them a credit toward a future cruise equal to the amount they paid for the Triumph vacation.

Jim Walker, who specializes in representing cruise ship passengers, told Reuters last week that the compensation offer was probably more than Triumph passengers would likely win in court. Walker is not involved in this suit and said he is unlikely to bring a case.

The class action lawsuit, which was filed by the Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman law firm in Miami, is at least the second by a Triumph passenger. On Friday, Cassie Terry of Brazoria County, Texas sued Carnival.
 ::snipping2::



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on February 25, 2013, 12:05:41 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/many-cruise-ship-lack-backup-power-systems-vexing-regulators.html?partner=yahoofinance
Lack of Backup Power Puts Cruise Passengers at the Ocean’s Mercy
February 24, 2013



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 11, 2013, 01:47:07 PM
http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2013/mar/01/carnival-triumph-has-been-billed-ar-5708149/
City of Mobile Bills Carnival Triumph
March 1, 2013



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 11, 2013, 01:48:26 PM
http://www.travelweekly.com/Mark-Pestronk/For-Carnival-Triumph-passengers-three-obstacles-to-recovery/
For Carnival Triumph passengers, three obstacles to recovery
March 6, 2013


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 12, 2013, 01:58:22 PM
http://blogs.lawyers.com/2013/03/nightmare-cruise-not-the-first-carnival-debacle/
Nightmare Cruise Not the First Carnival Debacle
March 11, 2013

 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 12, 2013, 02:01:30 PM
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5251
Live From CSM: Triumph Fire Tops CEO Panel Chat at World's Biggest Cruise Event
March 12, 2013

(Miami: 12:45 p.m. EST) -- Cruise Shipping Miami, the industry's annual mega-event where experts gather to discuss trends, new products and emerging markets, kicked off Tuesday with an executive panel discussion on safety -- and specifically Carnival Triumph.

Gerry Cahill, president and C.E.O. of Carnival Cruise Lines, fielded the first question of the day, which, naturally, focused on Triumph, the ship that was towed to Mobile, Alabama, after an engine room fire disabled it in February.
More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 12, 2013, 02:03:01 PM
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Carnival-launches-review-of-Triumph-fire/
Carnival launches review of Triumph fire
March 12, 2013

MIAMI BEACH — Carnival Cruise Lines has launched a comprehensive review of its fleet to address problems that surfaced in the engine-room fire on Carnival Triumph.

Speaking at the Cruise Shipping Miami conference, Carnival President Gerry Cahill said Carnival will focus on three areas: prevention and detection of fires; engine-room redundancy; and whether additional hotel facilities could be run off emergency generators.

Cahill said the review draws on personnel at Carnival Cruise lines and from sister lines within Carnival Corp., shipyards, engine manufacturers, classification societies and electrical-equipment manufacturers.

There are four groups working on the review, based in Mobile, Ala.; Miami, Southampton, England; and Trieste, Italy, Cahill said.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 14, 2013, 04:29:57 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/14/3285814/carnival-triumph-passengers-file.html
Carnival Triumph passengers file federal lawsuit
March 14, 2013

DALLAS -- A federal lawsuit has been filed seeking damages for 17 people who were passengers last month on the crippled Carnival Triumph cruise ship.

The plaintiffs in the suit filed Thursday are all Texas residents who claim they were physically harmed and fearful for their lives. The ship cruises out of the Port of Galveston.

The suit is at least the fourth to be filed against Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines. More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 14, 2013, 06:05:40 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/14/power-outages-overflowing-toilets-reportedly-plague-another-carnival-cruise/
New Carnival nightmare: Passengers being flown home from troubled cruise
March 14, 2013

 ::snipping2::
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Carnival Corp. following last month’s fire in an engine room that crippled the Carnival Triumph, leaving more than 4,200 passengers without power or working toilets for five days.

A Coast Guard official said a leak in a fuel oil return line caused the fire that disabled the massive 14-story vessel.

Cruise industry expert Andrew Coggins, a former Navy commander who is now a professor at Pace University in New York, said the fire could potentially have been serious.

"The problem is the oil's under pressure," he told the Associated Press. "What happens in the case of a fuel oil leak where you have a fire like that is it leaks in such a way that it sprays out in a mist. In the engine room you have many hot surfaces, so once the mist hits a hot surface it will flash into flame."

Carnival's latest incident, meanwhile, highlights the "inherent vulnerabilities" of taking a cruise, Miami-based maritime attorney Robert Peltz told FoxNews.com.

"Fortunately this latest incident occurred close to a port, but it does underscore the inherent vulnerabilities of cruise ship travel," Peltz said in a statement. "When a ship loses power while at sea, its passengers and crew are at severe risk for injury or death. Far too often, ships left without power are left at the mercy of unstable currents and unpredictable weather. The cruise industry needs to go beyond lip service and take meaningful steps to ensure this dangerous problem does not  continue to keep occurring."


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 20, 2013, 07:09:08 PM
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/18/17006526-coast-guard-finds-fuel-leak-caused-engine-fire-on-carnival-triumph?lite
Coast Guard finds fuel leak caused engine fire on Carnival Triumph
March 18, 2013

The cause of the engine fire that left the cruise ship Carnival Triumph without power for five days was a leak in a fuel oil return line that sprayed onto a hot surface, the Coast Guard announced Monday.
Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield, head of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Casualty Investigation Team, said the oil caught fire when it made contact with the hot surface. She said the suppression system kicked on immediately and that the ship’s crew “did a very good job” in responding.
 The fire is not suspected to have been caused intentionally.
During a teleconference with reporters Monday, Hatfield said the damage was contained to a relatively small area of the engine room. But because the oil burned at such a high temperature, crew members had to close off the room and could not immediately put out the blaze.
Hatfield deferred questions about when the fuel oil return lines were last inspected or why the damage had been so severe, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.
The Coast Guard has been with the vessel since it docked in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday and is conducting interviews with both passengers and crew. The service expects to complete the onsite investigation by the end of the week.
More...


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 20, 2013, 07:11:53 PM
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/carnival-cruise-lines-cancels-dozen-trips/story?id=18771670
Carnival Cruise Lines Cancels a Dozen Trips
March 20, 2013

After more than a month of mishaps, Carnival Corp., the parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines, has announced the cancellation of more cruises.

The cruise line will cancel an additional 10 cruises on the Carnival Triumph and two on the Carnival Sunshine.

he cruise line said in a statement that the additional cancellation of cruises was the "first implementation phase of its fleetwide comprehensive operational review."

Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill first announced the plan for a fleet-wide review at a cruise industry event in Miami last week, after a fire on the Triumph ship and just days before the Dream and Legend incidents that disrupted more vacations.

The 10 additional cruises canceled by Carnival affect itineraries through May. It will return to service, the cruise line said, on June 3. Guests on the affected voyages will receive a full refund, reimbursement for non-refundable transportation costs and a 25 percent discount on a future four- to five-day cruise.

Carnival Sunshine is in a previously scheduled dry dock for a full-ship makeover. It will now enter service May 5, 2013, following the cancellation of two European cruises. Guests on the canceled Carnival Sunshine voyages will receive a full refund, plus reimbursement for any non-refundable travel costs. Additionally, they will receive a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.
 ::snipping2::
It was the Carnival Triumph engine fire and subsequent stranding of passengers at sea for five days that kicked off a series of events for the cruise line. Next it was the Carnival Elation, which had an issue with one of the two units used to steer the ship, prompting the cruise line to give it a tug boat escort down the Mississippi River.

Next, the Carnival Dream lost power in port on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, requiring all passengers to be flown home rather than completing their itinerary.

Finally, the Carnival Legend had a technical problem that prevented it from cruising at its optimal speed and causing passengers to miss one port of call.


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 03, 2013, 04:32:24 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/03/carnival-triumph-breaks-loose-mobile/2050345/
Carnival Triumph breaks free in Ala. port
April 3, 2013

Cruise ship damaged while being repaired after notorious February breakdown.

The star-crossed Carnival Triumph broke loose Wednesday from its moorings in Mobile, Ala., where the 14-story ship was being repaired after its notorious nightmare cruise in February.

There were unconfirmed reports that workers may have been thrown into the water about 2 p.m.

Carnival said that strong winds caused to break its moorings. "The ship drifted and is currently resting against a cargo vessel," the company's statement said.
 ::snipping2::
The 900-foot-long ship suffered a hole on the right side of the stern, WKRG-TV reported. The Mobile Press-Register says that the bow also appears to be damaged.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 03, 2013, 09:18:16 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/03/travel/carnival-triumph-adrift/index.html
Carnival Triumph secured after breaking loose from dock; man reported missing
April 3, 2013

 ::snipping2::
The Triumph, which was adrift for several hours, was secured at a dock at the Alabama Cruise Terminal on Wednesday night, officials said. Tugboats will remain next to ship as as precaution, Carnival said.
Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said all of the company's crew members and contractors on the ship have been accounted for.
Wind gusts reached 66 mph Wednesday at nearby Brookley Field, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile, though a Carnival statement said the winds exceeded 70 mph.
The Triumph has been at BAE Shipyard in the Port of Mobile since an engine fire in February left the cruise ship crippled and adrift in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 people aboard. For four days, tugboats guided the disabled ship into the port as passengers complained about miserable conditions on board.
On Wednesday, it drifted across the shipyard after breaking free. Tugboats kept it from drifting farther down river, the Coast Guard said.
CNN affiliate WKRG reported the cruise ship had a hole on the right side of the stern; Carnival said an initial inspection found limited damage.
 ::snipping2::
Wednesday's incident was the latest in several headline-making issues for one of the world's leading cruise lines. Four of the company's 23 ships have had problems in recent months.
The cruise line has offered affected passengers refunds and discounts on future cruises.
It faces a class-action lawsuit related to the Triumph's last cruise, when passengers reported that food was scarce, cruise goers sweltered in the heat with no air conditioning, toilets overflowed and human waste ran down the walls in some parts of the ship.
The problems have also prompted one U.S. lawmaker to propose a "Cruise Ship Passenger Bill of Rights."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said he was asking the cruise industry to voluntarily sign on to a list of guidelines, including the right to backup power if generators fail and the right to disembark a docked ship "if basic provisions cannot adequately be provided on board."
He also called on the International Maritime Organization to investigate whether cruise lines are following existing guidelines, and whether existing standards are being enforced by countries where cruise ships that serve U.S. passengers are based.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 10, 2013, 08:59:29 AM
http://www.chron.com/business/article/Carnival-offers-Motel-6-price-for-Caribbean-after-4423183.php
Carnival offers Motel 6 price for Caribbean after Triumph
April 10, 2013

arnival Corp. (CCL) is offering a Caribbean cruise for as little as $38 a night, less than a stay at Motel 6, after an engine fire on the Triumph stranded passengers at sea for several days.

A four-night trip on Carnival's Inspiration, leaving Miami on April 22, costs $149 a person, including meals and some beverages, according to the cruise company's website yesterday. The lowest nightly rate at the budget-priced Motel 6 chain was $39.99, according to an online ad.

Carnival, based in Miami, generated headlines worldwide in February after the engine fire on the Triumph left 3,100 passengers at sea for several days with limited food and toilet service. The ship broke loose from its moorings in high winds last week in Mobile, Alabama, where it is being repaired.

"The prices did go down," said Manny Lubian, president of Futura Travel Inc. in Miami. "An empty ship doesn't make as much money. They'd rather have bodies in them, buying drinks and spending money."
 ::snipping2::
Post Holiday

Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman for the world's largest cruise operator, declined to comment on pricing. The Inspiration's four-night itinerary includes stops in Key West, Florida, and Cozumel, Mexico, according to the website.

The week was expected to be slow, following spring break in the U.S. and tax season, Lubian said.

Immediately after the fire, cruises on the Triumph were offered as low as $319 a person for four nights, or $80 a night, after its return to service later this year. Today, the lowest advertised price for a five-night trip on the Triumph out of Galveston, Texas, with stops in Cozumel and the Yucatan, was $289, or $58 a night, for an Oct. 7 departure.

The $149 fare on the Inspiration is nonrefundable and based on two travelers, according to the website. Government fees and taxes bring the total to $454 for two.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 12, 2013, 08:58:44 PM
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Carnival-No-reimbursement-to-US-for-disabled-ship-4430791.php
Carnival: No reimbursement to US for disabled ship
April 12, 2013

MIAMI (AP) — Carnival Corp. says all maritime interests must assist without question those in trouble at sea, a duty that would not include reimbursing the U.S. government nearly $780,000 for costs associated with the rescue of the crippled Triumph cruise ship.

Carnival released letters Friday replying to an inquiry by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, about the Triumph stranding and the cruise line's overall safety record. Among Rockefeller's questions was whether Carnival would repay the government for Coast Guard costs in the Triumph case as well as $3.4 million to the Coast Guard and Navy from the 2010 stranding of the Carnival Splendor in the Pacific Ocean.

"These costs must ultimately be borne by federal taxpayers," Rockefeller said in his March letter, adding that Carnival appears to pay little or no federal income taxes.

In response, Carnival said its policy is to "honor maritime tradition that holds that the duty to render assistance at sea to those in need is a universal obligation of the entire maritime community." The cruise line noted that its ships frequently participate in rescues at the Coast Guard's request, including 11 times in the past year in Florida and Caribbean waters. It did not make direct reference to repaying any money.

In a statement, Rockefeller called the response "shameful" and that he is considering "all options to hold the industry to higher passenger safety standards."

Those options could include a congressional hearing and legislation, perhaps even a closer look at taxation. Rockefeller's letter asked Carnival whether the money it pays in taxes covers the costs of various federal benefits it receives, a question the cruise line again did not directly answer. It did mention port taxes and fees and other payments and said it paid $16.5 billion in wages to U.S. workers in 2011.

"Every state where our ships call or home port benefits from the dollars spent by cruise lines to buy products and retain services from local businesses," Carnival added.

The exchange marked the latest chapter in the saga of the Triumph, which was disabled by an engine fire during a cruise in February in the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of passengers and crew had to endure five days at sea with no power and under squalid conditions while the 900-foot vessel was towed to Mobile, Ala., where it continues to undergo repairs.

Rockefeller had asked Carnival for details about 90 incidents aboard its ships that were filed with the Coast Guard in the past five years. Carnival responded that 83 were not considered serious under federal regulations. Three were the Triumph and Splendor mishaps and the capsizing of the Costa Concordia off Italy's coast, which killed 32 people in January 2012. The others were more minor ship collisions, an illness and one passenger who jumped off a ship.
 ::snipping2::



Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 20, 2013, 02:02:30 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/04/19/carnival-cancels-triumph-sailings/2096197/
Carnival cancels more Triumph sailings after mishap
April 19, 2013

The latest mishap on the Carnival Triumph has resulted in the cancellation of two more sailings.

Carnival says voyages scheduled for June 3 and June 8 have been eliminated so the 2,758-passenger vessel can spend 10 more days undergoing repairs.

The beleaguered cruise ship suffered a 20-foot-long gash on April 3 when it broke free from its moorings at a shipyard in Mobile, Ala. during a fierce storm. The damage occurred as the vessel was undergoing repairs following a much-publicized fire in February.

Carnival originally said the new damage to the ship was limited.
 ::snipping2::
Carnival now has cancelled 26 voyages on the Carnival Triumph since the February fire, which knocked out the ship's main power and left it dead in the water.

Carnival says passengers on the two newly cancelled Triumph sailings will receive a full refund, reimbursement for travel expenses and a future cruise discount of 25% of the amount paid for the sailing.

Carnival also announced that it will be moving the Carnival Triumph from Mobile to a repair yard in the Bahamas for the completion of repair work.


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 25, 2013, 11:48:01 AM
http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2020844874_carnivaltriumphxml.
Carnival Triumph to cruise again in June after repairs, upgrades
Cruise ship was overhauled after being adrift for days in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,000 miserable passengers and crew aboard.

April 23, 2013

Four months after an engine fire left it adrift in misery for days, Carnival Triumph is scheduled to return to sea on June 3. First, though, it’s going to have to be treated for a gash in its starboard aft side.

It’s as though this ship were cursed. A few weeks ago, hurricane-force winds hit Mobile, Ala., tearing the Triumph off its moorings and ripping its side. A rigging worker fell into the water and died.

Triumph, which first sailed in 1999, was in Mobile for a Carnival fleetwide comprehensive overhaul “bolstering these ships’ emergency generator power capabilities, strengthening protections surrounding key electrical systems and rerouting electrical cabling to provide greater protection and help ensure power redundancy,” according to Carnival spokeswoman Aly Bello.

The overhaul follows February’s Triumph episode — which left passengers without working toilets, lights, hot water, elevators, air conditioning and the usual vast array of food — and propulsion problems experienced by several other Carnival ships.
 ::snipping2::

Cruising
Be prepared


Misadventures at sea are rare, but Carnival’s travails serve as a reminder that with cruises, as with flights or, really, any kind of travel, things can go wrong, and it’s good to be prepared. Regardless of how you travel, here are just a few things you can do to make sure that if something does go wrong — whether it’s being stuck in an airport, on a ship or in a hotel that’s suddenly been quarantined because of a flu outbreak — you’ll be in better shape to cope:

1. Take along more doses of your medication than you expect to need. It’s a weeklong trip? Take two weeks worth of meds.

2. You’ve provided for the baby-sitting of your kids for the length of your trip. Have a backup plan in case you don’t get home on time.

3. If, instead, you took your still-in-diapers child along with you, make sure you take along more diapers than you think you’ll need. (You do this everywhere you take your baby, right? Because you should.)

4. It doesn’t hurt to throw a handful of granola bars into your carry-on for a rainy day. Same goes for a few bottles of water, within the rules of whatever mode of transportation you’re taking.

5. Have more than one means of communicating. Take your phone along with a Wi-Fi device that allows faster typing than a phone. If you’re on a ship, keep your phone in airplane mode while you’re onboard to avoid enormous roaming charges, but if you’re in a bad way and need to enable your phone, you’ll have it. Charge your devices every chance you get.

6. Bring a couple of books (or fill your electronic reader with books; their charge typically lasts for days), and take along a deck of cards.

7. Bring hand sanitizer, a tiny flashlight, a small first-aid kit and antacids. This is just smart packing for any trip, let alone one that could leave you adrift a sea.

Helen Anders / Cox News


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 25, 2013, 11:51:10 AM
http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/story/Carnival-Triumph-Evacuated-Crew-Lodged-at-Civic/42Bw43RuVkaSu2-QwHGxYA.cspx
Carnival Triumph Evacuated, Crew Lodged at Civic Center
April 24, 2013

MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) Update: Crew members have returned to the Carnival Triumph after being forced to leave the ship as a precaution following Wednesday night's barge explosions in the Mobile River.

Approximately 800 crew members were initially told they would be accommodated at the Convention Center, but ended up at the Civic Center.
 ::snipping2::
They returned Thursday morning.


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on April 25, 2013, 11:56:43 AM
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5328
Carnival Triumph Evacuated Due to Nearby Fires
April 25, 2013

(9:57 a.m. EDT) -- Repair crew staying aboard Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph were evacuated last night after a major fire broke out on two fuel barges near Mobile. Firefighters say the fire has little chance of spreading to Triumph.

According to a Miami Herald report, Carnival Triumph is located across the river from the fire, a distance of about two football fields.

All workers were cleared to return to the ship earlier this morning, Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen told Cruise Critic, adding that the repair schedule for the ship remains unchanged. Carnival Triumph is scheduled to return to service June 13.
 ::snipping2::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on June 12, 2013, 07:58:35 AM
http://www.khou.com/news/local/Carnival-Triumph-back-in-Galveston-first-two-voyages-sold-out-211145311.html
Carnival Triumph back in Galveston, first two voyages sold out
June 11, 2013

GALVESTON – Carnival Triumph is back in Galveston for the first time since February.
You might recall accounts of the “nightmare” cruise in the Gulf of Mexico.  An engine room fire left thousands of passengers stranded on the ship without electricity or working toilets.
Triumph is now scheduled to be back at sea.
Its four-day cruise, which is scheduled to set sail on Thursday, is completely sold out. The five-day cruise scheduled to take off on Monday is also booked solid.
 ::snipping3::
Triumph’s hiatus has been a blow to Galveston’s economy. As it repaired its reputation and its ship, Carnival had cancelled 14 other sailings on the Triumph.
Port Officials estimated a loss of $700,000 in revenue.
 ::snipping3::


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on August 13, 2013, 09:18:03 PM
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Beaumont-man-sues-after-entire-staff-stuck-on-4728860.php?cmpid=rrhoustontx
Beaumont man sues after entire staff stuck on Carnival cruise
August 13, 2013

 Beaumont eye care business and a group of cruise ship passengers have filed separate lawsuits against Carnival Cruise Lines in connection with the ill-fated Carnival Triumph voyage in February.

Dr. Peter Cass, who owns and operates Beaumont Family Eye Care, filed a lawsuit Aug. 8 to recoup losses to his business stemming from the cruise ship's problems.

Three days after leaving Galveston on Feb. 7 for Mexico, a fire ignited in the Triumph's engine room, disabling the vessel's propulsion system and knocking out power. The cruise ship drifted for days in the Gulf of Mexico before it was towed to Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 14.

Cass took his entire staff on a cruise aboard Carnival Triumph, and suffered economic losses due to the five-day delay in getting the employees back to reopen the business.

"This is purely an economic loss claim," said Beaumont attorney Matthew C. Matheny, who represents the eye center. "Dr. Cass actually took his entire office on a paid vacation, including some of their spouses. They were stranded out there and had to shut down the business for more than a week."

Cass also chartered a bus to get his staffers back to work, and sustained additional expenses with contract labor, Matheny said.

The lawsuit alleges that the cruise line was aware of the mechanical problems aboard the ship and failed to maintain the vessel "in a reasonable and safe manner to prevent a fire in the engine room." The cruise line also failed warn passengers of the danger, the lawsuit states.

In a separate lawsuit also filed Aug. 8, some passengers who were aboard the Triumph claim that they exposed to urine and feces and the odors of raw sewage that leaked through the ceilings, walls and floors.

The federal lawsuit also alleges that passengers were exposed to extreme heat and cold temperatures and had to wait in long lines to get water and food.

The lawsuit, filed by Beaumont attorney T. Roebuck, alleges that Carnival was negligent for failing to maintain the vessel in a reasonable and safe manner, for failing to hire and supervise competent management, and for failing to provide sanitary accommodations, adequate food and drinking water, and ventilation.

The lawsuit seeks an award of damages for discomfort, medical expenses, mental anguish and lost earnings, and out-of-pocket expenses.
 ::snipping3::


Comments


Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on December 17, 2013, 04:31:56 PM


http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/travel/carnival-cruise-triumph-problems/
CNN Exclusive: Documents show ill-fated Triumph cruise ship set sail with issues
December 17, 2013

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More than 4,000 passengers and crew members were stranded aboard what's now known as the "poop cruise" after a fire knocked out the ship's power. The ship drifted four days before it could be towed into Mobile, Alabama -- the whole time without air conditioning, and largely without lights, water, food and working toilets.
CNN has learned that the crew of the Triumph set sail in February with only four of six generators fully operational, knowing that the company had an ongoing generator fire hazard in ships across its fleet, including Triumph.
Houston attorney Frank Spagnoletti represents the Rodriguez family and several dozen other passengers from the ill-fated Carnival Triumph who have filed suit against Carnival Cruise Lines.
"That ship never should have set sail in February," Spagnoletti said. "It was unseaworthy at the commencement of the voyage. These documents tell you that the company -- and I'm saying to you the corporation back in Miami -- had knowledge of the fact that this vessel had a propensity for fires; that there were things that could have been, should have been, and weren't done in order to make sure that fires didn't take place."
The first trouble with Triumph was in diesel generator No. 6 -- the one that wound up catching fire. Starting more than a year before the infamous cruise, that generator was overdue for maintenance, often not in compliance with the safety laws of the sea, known as SOLAS, according to the ship's engineer.
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Title: Re: Engine Room Fire Disables Cruise Ship "Carnival Triumph"
Post by: MuffyBee on March 11, 2014, 09:33:41 PM
http://www.khou.com/news/local/Local-woman-sues-Carnival-Cruise-Lines-I-want-them-to-tell-the-truth-249647111.html
Local woman sues Carnival Cruise Lines: ‘I want them to tell the truth’
March 11, 2014

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas -- Thirty-three people who were aboard the Carnival Triumph last year have sued the cruise line. Debra Oubre of Friendswood is one of them. She said she has not been the same since the ill-fated voyage in February of 2013.
"I get up. I open my door. I literally see in the hallway what looks like a black wall moving towards us," said Oubre.
The ship was crippled by a fire and ended up having no air conditioning, inadequate food supplies and overflowing toilets.
"A lot of us suffered dehydration, myself included,” said Oubre. “I lost weight. I had a urinary tract infection."
She said the emotional fallout has been worse.
“I can’t describe it,” said Oubre. “I feel anxious and the nightmares, not being able to breathe because at night we had overflowing toilets. It was sewage, raw sewage."
She is part of a group asking for damages in a Miami Federal Court. Oubre said she cannot put a number on her pain and suffering.
The Triumph has been dubbed by some of the 3,100 passengers who were on board as “the floating toilet” and “the floating Petri dish.”
Oubre said everyone she saw on board had stomach problems and she wants Carnival to change its practices so that no one ever goes through what she and her group went through.
"I want them to tell the truth, and I want them to be accountable for what they put all of us through,” said Oubre.
The suit is being tried before a judge, not a jury. Federal Judge Donald Graham in Miami could possible make a ruling in a couple of months.
In a pre-trial ruling he called Carnival negligent. Oubre and other plaintiffs see that as a very good indication of how the case may go.
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Oubre said Carnival refunded the cost of the Triumph cruise, gave passengers $500 and a free future cruise which she has taken.
She reports no problems with that voyage.