Have you ever been on a cruise? Cruises can be a very relaxing time away from home, but that was not the case for the passengers on board the Carnival Triumph ship. This oversize cruise ship weighs approximately 102,000 tons and carries hundreds of thousands of passengers. This particular voyage was carrying 3,143 passengers, along with 1,086 crew members on board.
The trip began on Thursday, February 7th , and was scheduled to arrive in Galveston, Texas, early Monday morning. The ship didn’t return to port as planned; however, just 150 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, a fire broke out in the engine room of the ship. Luckily, the fire was able to be extinguished with assistance from the automatic fire suppression system that was installed on the ship. Unfortunately, the fire left the massive sea vessel without momentum or power to continue its journey.
In a statement made to USA Today, a representative of Carnival reported that there were no passenger or crew injuries or casualties on board. The technical team frantically tried to assess the fire damage and find a way to regain power to the ship. They had called to dispatch a tugboat on standby to come and pull the ship to the necessary location, and they also informed the Coast Guard of their situation.
The plan was then to have the ship towed to a Mexican port, but the strong Gulf current carried the ship north before that plan could be set into motion. Since some of the cruise ship passengers did not have passports with them, they decided instead to pull into the Mobile port instead to have the ship repaired.
Finally, the cruise ship pulled into the Alabama Cruise terminal, three days after it was originally due to return. Upon arrival, passengers seemed more than relieved as they exited the cruise ship. After the blaze of the engine room fire, a total of 4,200 people were left without electricity and without plumbing for days and as a result, the halls eventually reeked of urine, and guests were left in total darkness.
As compensation for the incident, Carnival has promised to give each passenger $500, a ticket to fly home, and a full refund of their trip costs, including any money spent on board. On top of this, they gave passengers a free cruise for the future. As for the Carnival Triumph, that cruise ship won’t be making any more voyages until mid-April. This incident has been shared multiple times across social media outlets and has caused Carnival to cancel at least 14 other voyages that were scheduled for departure during February 21 and April 13 of this year. This loss is estimated to be millions more in lost cruise revenue, along with the payouts from this incident, causing real concern to Carnival.
The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are still looking into the reason behind the engine room fire and what the cause could have been. Fortunately, there were no injuries or casualties, and all the passengers were able to return home. If you or someone you know has been injured while on a cruise ship due to an act of negligence or a terrible accident, you may have a valid personal injury claim on your hands. It doesn't matter if you signed a waiver that seems to release the cruise line from blame either, we can still help!
Here at Mukerji Law Firm, we handle a broad range of personal injury cases, including cruise ship injury claims. If you were in any way affected by the Carnival Triumph engine room fire or injured while on another cruise voyage, please do not hesitate to contact our Houston office. Our Houston Cruise Ship Injury Lawyers are dedicated to protecting the rights of Personal Injury victims, and we will seek justice on your behalf. Contact our firm today and learn how we can help you!
