There are reports that the Carnival Liberty cruise ship sustained an engine room fire today.

The fire took place when the cruise ship was docked in St. Thomas USVI.  Cruise passengers were reportedly evacuated ashore, some wearing life vests.

John Heald, the popular blogging cruise director for Carnival, posted this statement in his Facebook page:

"Earlier today, while the Carnival Liberty was docked in St. Thomas, there was a fire in the ship’s engine room. There were no reported injuries to guests or crew. All guests are ashore in St. Thomas. Crews are working to confirm the fire has been completely extinguished." 

Please leave a comment if you have information, or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Think cruise ship fires are rare?  Think again. Read:

Ten Years of Cruise Ship Fires – Has the Cruise Industry Learned Anything?

What cruise lines don’t want you to know.

Update September 8, 2015 @ 5:00 P.M

CARNIVAL LIBERTY STATEMENT September 8, 2015 – 5pm EDT The Carnival Liberty continues to remain in St. Thomas following an engine fire that occurred yesterday while the ship was docked there during a scheduled port of call visit. The ship’s command is presently awaiting permission from authorities to sail. Once the vessel departs, it is scheduled to return to its homeport of San Juan. Guests will have the option of remaining on board through the rest of the week and exploring San Juan or disembarking and traveling home. If clearance to depart St. Thomas is not received by later this evening, the company will move forward with arrangements to fly all guests home from St. Thomas. All guests are being provided with a full refund of their cruise as well as a 50 percent discount on a future cruise. This is in addition to a $150 per person credit that has already been applied to guests’ shipboard accounts. There were no injuries to guests or crew as a result of the fire which was extinguished by the ship’s automated suppression system. All hotel services including air conditioning, elevators, toilets, galleys, etc. are fully functional and the ship’s normal array of activities, entertainment, dining options and programming are being offered. We apologize to our guests for this unexpected disruption to their vacation and the inconvenience they are experiencing. Carnival Liberty departed San Juan on Sunday for a seven-day Caribbean cruise with 3,346 guests and 1,150 crew on board.

Photo Credit: Chargarther licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons