Officials say an engine room aboard a cruise ship headed for Mexico has caught fire, leaving the vessel adrift. Carnival Cruise Lines says the blaze aboard the Carnival Splendor broke out Monday, some 55 miles off of the northern Baja coast.
An engine fire broke out early Monday about 200 miles south of San Diego, California, stranding 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members on the Carnival Splendor. No injuries have been reported. Carnival Cruise Lines, based in Miami, reported the ship’s air conditioning, hot water and telephone service were not working, but auxiliary power is expected to restore toilets and cold running water by Monday night.
The United State Coast Guard, the United States Navy, and the Mexican Navy, deployed aircraft and ships to respond to assist the cruise ship, which was drifting about 55 miles off the coast of northern Baja.
Two Mexican seagoing tugboats, contracted out of the port of Ensenada, are scheduled to return the ship to Ensenada with an escort by a United States Coast Guard cutter about 8pm Wednesday.
New pictures and video have emerged from the USS Ronald Reagan, showing sailors loading supplies headed to a stranded Carnival cruise ship. The boat is expected to be towed to San Diego.