Liberty passengers head home

By Dana Niland

CJ Contributor

Carnival Cruise Lines has chartered flights home for the remaining passengers on board the Carnival Liberty after a small fire in the engine room cut short a seven-day cruise this week.

“Carnival Cruise Lines has decided to end the cruise early and assist passengers in returning to their home cities,” said Joseph Boschulte, President and CEO of the West Indian Company, Ltd (WICO), the company that manages the dock where the ship remained berthed in St Thomas. “One-hundred-seventy passengers took a charted flight to Barbados on Tuesday. The Carnival-chartered flights continue today with six flights scheduled for San Juan. The cruise line will continue to facilitate departures until all passengers have left.”

All passengers were safely evacuated after the fire broke out late Monday morning, on the second day of the week-long Caribbean voyage.

The vessel’s automated fire suppression system extinguished the fire and local emergency personnel services were on the dock to provide assistance if necessary.

Passengers re-boarded the ship at 8:15 p.m. Monday night and remained in port, where the ship will stay until all passengers disembark.

According to a statement from WICO, the cause of the fire has not been determined, but the company’s management and staff will continue to provide assistance in the matter until it is resolved and normal business operations resume.

Carnival Liberty’s operating systems affecting air conditioning, water, electricity, toilets, elevators and food service all remained fully operational while passengers were on board.

No injuries were reported throughout the incident.