Fire Disables ZENITH
Early on the morning of June 25, a fire broke out in the engine room of Pullmantur Cruises’ ZENITH off Italy as she sailed from Ravenna to Venice with 1672 passengers and 600 crew. The fire started at approximately 03:48 AM and the ship lost power, having to anchor some 17 miles off Venice. The fire was put out quickly by the crew, with no reported injuries. Pullmantur said everyone was safe and was being kept apprised of developments by the Captain. There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.
The 1992-built ZENITH (Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany), originally operated by Celebrity Cruises is now owned by the Spanish company Pullmantur, a subsidiary of the US group Royal Caribbean Cruises and is registered in Malta.
Later in the day, the ship was towed by four tugs to Venice, Italy while Pullmantur assembled a fleet of charter aircraft to fly her passengers home.
Pullmantur will refund cruise fares and reimburse passengers for costs to return to their home cities. International passengers who need accommodations to facilitate connections with their flights are being helped.
In 2014, ZENITH will be moved to the fleet of CDF Croisieres de France, (a subsidiary of Pullmantur Cruises, catering to the French cruise market, with French as the primary language spoken on board. She will be joining her near sister ship, L’HORIZON (ex HORIZON).
