A stricken cruise liner owned by the same company as the Costa Concordia is towed by fishing boat to an island in the Seychelles.
The French tuna boat arrived to tow the Costa Allegra to safety on Tuesday morning after a fire in the liner’s generator room caused a massive power failure leaving it adrift 200 miles off the Seychelles coast.
Helicopters delivered food and torches to the 1,000 people still on board. Of 636 passengers, including 31 Britons and one Irish citizen, and 413 crew, none are believed to be hurt. Nine members of an anti-pirate unit of the Italian navy are also on board as a protection measure commonly found on ships in the Indian Ocean which are prone to attacks by Somali pirates.
The latest incident comes just six weeks after the Costa Concordia capsized after it hit rocks off the west coast of Italy, killing up to 32 people. Both ships are operated by Costa Cruises, which is owned by the Florida-based Carnival Corporation.
Of all the ships that are sailing in the ocean, the two that have come into difficulties in the last few weeks have been the two that my children were on. Jayne Thomas, mother of two
Today, the company said that despite initially planning to tow the liner towards the island of Desroches, they had decided to tow it a further 155 miles to the island of Mahe.
The decision to change course was taken following advice from maritime experts who said that facilities on Desroches Island were not adequate to cope with the arrival of so many people.
“Logistics and hotels on the island are not enough. It would [have required]…an immediate transfer from Desroches to Mahe,” said Costa Cruises spokesman, Davide Barbano.
However, there are still concerns over whether Seychelles authorities will find enough accommodation for those onboard. “It’s a busy time of year,” said Srdjana Janosevic, spokeswoman for the Seychelles presidency.
Relatives of the passengers and crew are anxiously waiting for further information on the welfare of their families.
Jayne Thomas, whose daughter was working on the Costa Allegra as a dancer, revealed the emergency was a double blow as her 19-year-old son had also been working on the Costa Concordia when it capsized.
Speaking from her home in Sutton Coldfield, she told the BBC: “I didn’t think anything like this could happen again to my daughter.
“I thought it was a one off and we wouldn’t be going through this experience again. I really didn’t think disaster could strike twice.
We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience: absolute priorty is to make it as short as possible. Costa Cruises statement
“Of all the ships that are sailing in the ocean, the two that have come into difficulties in the last few weeks have been the two that my children were on.”
It is expected that the liner will reach Mahe on Thursday, aided by two tugs.
Until they reach the shore, passengers and crew will be without cooking facilities or any air-conditoning to counter the tropical temperatures.
There was light onboard thanks to an emergency battery. The crew are hoping that the generator-powered radio will continue to operate.
The lack of power has made it harder to communicate with people aboard the ship, who have been kept in large communal rooms rather than their cabins.
“We have no information at all, other than what’s coming through on the television and press,” Mrs Thomas said. “We can do nothing apart from wait, and just wait for information to be relayed to us.”
The 28,597 tonne Costa Allegra left Diego Suarez, Madagascar, on Saturday and was on its way to the port of Victoria. Officials said the blaze, the cause of which is still unclear, had been extinguished without causing injuries and casualties, and the liner had remained stable and upright.
The company has said that it is “sincerely sorry for the inconvenience: absolute priorty is to make it as short as possible”.