Cruise Ship Damaged by Fire

Carnival Cruise Lines' Celebration was damaged when a generator caught fire. No one was hurt in the fire, which cut short a seven-day cruise for 1,586 passengers and 667 crew members early Wednesday 12th January. Celebration was left adrift for six hours and temporarily without running water, toilets or air conditioning.

The fire started in one of three auxiliary generators in the middle of the 733-foot ship, and was put out within minutes by automated fire-fighting equipment. It was the third fire in two years aboard a Carnival ship. On December 27 the Paradise spent two days in the Bahamas and changed its itinerary because of engine problems, outraging many passengers who had paid extra for a special New Year's cruise. The Carnival fire broke out as the ship moved through the Caribbean about 100 miles west-northwest of Jamaica. The ship was scheduled to visit Montego Bay, followed by Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico.