A fire broke out this morning in the engine room on the Carnival Splendor during a cruise to the Mexican Riviera (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.)  Passengers were told to move from their cabins to the Lido Deck on the upper level. 

The fire burned from around 6:00 a.m. until it was extinguished around 9 a.m. according to several news sources.  However, the fire erupted again according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Kevin Metcalf. 

The Press-Telegram reports that two guests and a crew member suffered panic attacks, but no one was physically injured. 

The cruise ship had left the Port of Long Beach on Sunday with 3,299 guests and 1,167 crew members.

The cruise ship is dead in the water.  There are reports that there is only an emergency generator running, which means no air conditioning or working toilets. 

The cruise ship is approximately 55 miles west of Punta San Jacinto, which is about 150 miles south of San Diego, and will have to be towed back to a port by tugs. 

We have written about cruise ship fires many times.  Carnival and its subsidiary Princess Cruises have a long history of cruise ship fires   Consider reading  Ten Years of Cruise Ship Fires – Has the Cruise Industry Learned Anything?

The Splendor is the Carnival cruise ship which Senior Cruise Director John Heald is currently on.  Cruise Director Heald writes an excellent blog called the John Heald Blog.  He wrote a timely and sensitive blog last month when a Carnival crew member tragically committed suicide.  Will he write an informative blog about this latest incident on the Splendor?  

The official statement from Carnival is pretty skimpy, as usual. 

The engines were manufactured by Wartsila.  The Splendor is diesel-electric powered using six Wartsila diesel engines and has a power output of 63,400kW.  I have made an inquiry to Wartsila but I have not received a response.

Were you a passenger or crew member on the cruise ship?  Do you have photos or video to share?  Please leave a comment below.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OoAgMa1083Y%3Fhl%3Den%26fs%3D1

Articles of interest:

Disabled Carnival Ship Shows How Vulnerable Mega-Vessels Can Be

Carnival Cruise Ship Still Out At Sea, Conditions Onboard ‘Challenging’