USCG Provides Assistance to Bahamian-Flagged Cruise Ship

The U.S. Coast Guard responded early Monday morning to a fire aboard the 917-foot cruise ship, Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas, 35 nautical miles northwest of West End, Bahamas.

At approximately 3 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Miami received a report of a fire aboard a Bahamian-flagged cruise ship carrying 2,224 passengers and 796 crew en route to CoCoCay, Bahamas.

The fire reportedly began on the third deck of the aft mooring area of the ship and spread to the fourth deck crew lounge area. Around 5 a.m., the fire was reported to have been extinguished by the ship’s fire response crew.

Coast Guard Sector Miami issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Cormorant, the Coast Guard Cutter Sitkinak, and the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered to respond to the emergency. The Coast Guard also launched an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft and an Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk to respond.

The cruise ship Carnival Sensation and a motor vessel from the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER), the Hagen, also diverted to stand by and assist if needed.

The Cutter Cormorant and the Cutter Yered safely escorted the Grandeur of the Seas to Freeport, Bahamas where it is currently moored for further evaluation.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are joining the flag state to begin conducting a joint investigation of the vessel to determine the cause of the fire.

There are no reports of injuries onboard the ship.

Grandeur of the Seas was on a seven-night sailing cruise that departed Baltimore, Maryland, on May 24, and included port calls to Port Canaveral, Florida; CocoCay and Nassau, Bahamas.

The Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System, sponsored by the U. S. Coast Guard, is a computer-based voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea.

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Press Release, May 28, 2013; Image: USCG