Stricken cruise ship returns to port

SANDAKAN, Malaysia -- A luxury cruise ship stranded at sea for 24 hours by a fire was limping toward a Malaysian port yesterday, as emergency services and embassy officials prepared to help the 1,000 people on board.

The Azamara Quest was adrift in waters off the southern Philippines for a full day after flames engulfed one of its engine rooms Friday night, injuring five crewmembers. It restored propulsion the next night and is expected to reach the harbor of Sandakan city in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah on Borneo island late yesterday.

It was the latest in a series of accidents hitting luxury cruise liners since January, when the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

Sandakan authorities may have ambulances on standby, even though they have not received requests for assistance, said city police official Rudy Wiliding.

Five crewmembers suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured and needed hospital care, the ship’s operator has said.

The vessel is carrying 590 passengers and 411 crewmembers. Over one-third, or 201, of the passengers are American, according to lists of passenger and crew nationalities provided by the ship captain to the Philippine Coast Guard.

The passengers from 25 countries also include 98 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand and 14 from Switzerland.

Harvey Sernovitz, the US embassy’s spokesman in Malaysia, said a consular team plans to be at the Sandakan port to assist American citizens. The British embassy’s website carried a Foreign Office statement saying it will also send a team.

First Adm. M. Karunanithi, the Malaysian coast guard’s chief in Sabah state, said a patrol boat would escort the Azamara Quest to Sandakan. The coast guard was informed there was no need to airlift the injured crewmembers that suffered smoke inhalation,

A Philippine Navy patrol gunboat escorted the cruise ship to the waters bordering Malaysia.

Naval Forces Western Mindanao chief Rear Admiral Armando Guzman said a naval patrol gunboat and patrol ship was among the Philippine vessels deployed to escort the cruise ship safely to Malaysian waters.

Azamara Club Cruises, the ship’s operator, said in a statement yesterday that the ship was sailing at a top speed of only 11 kilometers per hour and was expected to reach Sandakan at 10 p.m. (1400 GMT).

“Unfortunately, the ship has not been able to restore power to the air conditioning compressors. While this is a very difficult undertaking, the onboard team is diligently working to resolve this issue. The guest sentiment onboard continues to be calm and upbeat,” the statement said.

It said company president Larry Pimentel would meet with the passengers and crew in Sandakan.

Engineers on Saturday morning restored electricity in the ship to re-establish essentials including running water, plumbing, refrigeration and food preparation, the company said.

The company said the rest of the cruise would be canceled. It said it would fully refund the passengers and provide each guest with a future cruise certificate for the amount paid for the aborted voyage.

Azamara Club Cruises was earlier reported being part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean denied this.

The crew includes 119 Filipinos, 58 Indians and 50 Indonesians. The stricken ship had been scheduled to make several stops in Indonesia before arriving in Singapore on April 12.

But instead, it drifted Saturday in the Sulu Sea about 130 kilometers south of the Philippines’ Tubbataha Reef, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente said.

The area lies between the Philippines and the island of Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Ricafrente said no distress call was received and there would be an investigation.

A woman from Kailua-Kuna, Hawaii, who said she is one of the passengers, posted an entry on Azamara’s Facebook page after Internet service was restored on the ship, praising the crew’s handling of the situation.

“No A/C yet but everyone is fine,” she wrote. “Cannot say enough about this Captain and the crew. They have been absolutely wonderful keeping us updated constantly with the good or the bad... Sorry that we cannot finish our cruise, but we will back ASAP.”

She said the crew worked with very little rest “to keep us all in good spirits, well fed and comfortable.”

There was a jar where passengers could place donations for an injured crewman who was in serious condition, she said.

The ship’s senior physician, Oliver Gilles, said the crewmember had suffered “prolonged heat and smoke exposure.”– AP, Roel Pareño