Friday, December 4, 2015

Fire Disables Cruise Ship Near Hawaii

By Mark Edward Nero

A fire in the engine room resulted in a Princess Cruises ship losing power Nov. 30 during a voyage from San Francisco to Hawaii.

The cruise ship Grand Princess, carrying 2,592 passengers and 1,095 crew, was in the middle of a 15-day Hawaii cruise that departed San Francisco Nov. 25.

“A propulsion circuit breaker in the ship’s aft electrical switchboard suffered a significant failure, resulting in smoke and a small fire,” the Los Angeles County-based cruise line explained in a statement.

“The incident was isolated but did cause a power outage resulting in the temporary use of emergency lighting and limited air conditioning for a short time,” Princess Cruises said.

The crew was able to extinguish the fire and restart the engine. Power was later restored and no injuries were reported.

The Grand Princess was 20 miles off the coast of Hilo, Hawaii at the time of the incident. All 2,592 passengers aboard the vessel were accounted for, along with 1,095 crewmembers.

Princess Cruises subsequently cancelled the vessel’s port calls to the Hawaiian islands of Kaui and Maui in order to return to San Francisco as scheduled on Dec. 10.

“While there is no impact to maneuverability or safety, the ship cannot attain maximum speed therefore we must adjust the future itinerary,” the company explained.

The Grand Princess, built in 1998, is a 951-foot long vessel weighing 109,000 gross tons. It has a height of 201 feet, a beam of 118 feet and can travel at a speed of up to 22.5 knots.