Stricken cruise ship with mostly American, European passengers heading to Sandakan
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Stricken cruise ship with mostly American, European
passengers heading to Sandakan
By MUGUNTAN VANAR
KOTA KINABALU: A luxury cruise ship Azamara Quest, with about 1,000 passengers and crew on board, is heading slowly to Sandakan Sunday after fire knocked out its engines and injured about five crew members on Friday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency has dispatched a patrol boat to sea borders of Philippines and northern Sabah to help escort the stricken ship into Sandakan port.
The 11-deck cruise ship with 590 passengers, mostly American and European, and 411 crew members had yet to enter Malaysian waters off Kudat, said MMEA Regional Enforcement chief for Sabah and Labuan First Admiral M. Karunanithi when confirming the vessel was heading to Sandakan.
“We are trying to get exact location of the current position for the cruise ship from our counterparts in the Philippines.
“We were informed that it was in Pahlawan waters (about 160kms away from Sandakan) sometime Saturday but we have yet to ascertain its exact position as of now (noon Sunday),'' he said.
However, he said they have dispatched KN Labas patrol ship to the Kudat area and once the cruise ship'' enters Sabah waters, we will escort it to Sandakan.''
On reports that five crew members were suffering from smoke inhalation during the fire, he said they were informed that there was no need to airlift the sick crew as their conditions were not so serious.
He said the cruise company had appointed a local agent to facilitate the transfer of the passengers and repairs for the ship.
The Philippine coastguard vessels are reportedly escorting the ship.
Philippine Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan said the Azamara Quest caught fire at 8.19 pm on Friday, some 75 nautical miles south of Tubbataha Reef, Palawan.
The fire was reportedly put out about 11 a.m. Saturday.
The ship's operator and owner, Azamara Club Cruises, in a statement posted on its website, said the fire that broke out in the engine room was "quickly extinguished."
However, the ship had to run on generator power while the engine was being repaired.
"There were no injuries of guests reported and the atmosphere aboard is calm. In an abundance of caution, the captain initially mustered all guests to their assembly stations," the company said.
The ship, which was on a 17-night cruise, had come from Hong Kong to Manila and left Manila on March 28 on its way to Sandakan.
It was supposed to make port calls at Sulawesi, Bali and Komodo in Indonesia before concluding the voyage in Singapore on April 12.
The company said in its online update; "The damage caused by the fire will require us to cancel the rest of Azamara Quest's voyage once the ship arrives in Sandakan and they have set up set up hotlines so that relatives of guests could call their loved ones.”
Larry Pimentel, president and chief executive officer Azamara Club Cruises is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., a Norwegian-American firm based in Miami, was set to fly to Sandakan to meet with the passengers personally on Monday.
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