GRANDEUR Fire — All Safe — Updated
Royal Caribbean’s 1996-built GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS suffered a fire on the mooring deck early Monday morning while en route to CocoCay, some 38 nautical miles from Freeport, Bahamas. The ship is on a seven-night cruise from Baltimore.
Royal Caribbean International said the fire was discovered at 2:50 AM on the mooring area on Deck Three and was extinguished. The affected area was subsequently cordoned off.
“In an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew have been accounted for, and there have been no injuries of guests or crew reported. The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to focus on their needs and concerns,” according to a statement from Royal Caribbean International.
The fire was extinguished at 4:58AM and passengers were allowed to return to their staterooms, the company said, at 7:15 AM, and all systems on board were reportedly operating normally.
GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS arrived in Freeport, Bahamas, for further evaluation at 10:15 AM and will remain there overnight.
74,000 GT GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS was built at Kvaerner Masa yard in Helsinki, Finland. Registered in the Bahamas, she has been in service since 1996. In May 2012, the ship under went a comprehensive refit at the Navanita shipyard in Cadiz, Spain.
Update May 27, 2013: Royal Caribbean International announced today that the May 31, 2013 sailing of GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS from Baltimore, Maryland, will be cancelled to allow for repairs to damages sustained as a result of a fire. Charter flights are now being arranged to return passengers to their starting point in Baltimore. Guests booked on the May 31 sailing will be provided a full refund of the cruise fare paid for their sailing. Royal Caribbean also will provide these guests with the opportunity to sail in the future by providing a future cruise certificate for 50 percent of the cruise fare paid for the May 31, 2013, GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS sailing.
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Wonder if someone flipped a cigarette overboard and it was blown back on board?
Jeff
Exactly my thought Jeff. I can’t believe how many stupid people throw lit cigarettes and cigars overboard.
That fire looks like a pain…How long did it take to put it out?
Being that it occurred in a F&B area I can’t understand why the Ansel system didn’t extinguish it within seconds – these systems are incredibly effective.
How long did it take to put it out?
Answer is in the article text above, fire detected at 2:50 AM and out at 4:58 AM.
Glenn Paull.
Not an F&B area.
It started on the mooring deck.
This is very similar to a fire that happened on Carnival’s ECSTASY several years ago, which started in the mooring lines at the stern of the ship just off the coast of Miami in full view of media cameras and helicopters. For Royal Caribbean’s publicity, it is fortunate this incident ocurred at night and mostly out of sight of the camera’s eye. Even more fortunate that it did not cost any lives or serious injuries.