Costa Allegra, Owned By Carnival, Powerless And Adrift After Engine Fire
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Costa Cruise Lines, the Italian line owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines which is still trying to recover the sunken Costa Concordia off the Italian coast, has a second ship in trouble.
The Costa Allegra, a smaller Costa ship with just over 600 passengers and 413 crew members aboard, is drifting near India after a fire in the engine room as it sailed near the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Commander Cosimo Nicastro of the Italian coast guard said that it took the crew a few hours to extinguish the fire and, although the ship is in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there are "no problems for the passengers."
However, reports from the ship say there are no lights aboard and even though dawn has arrived the inside of the ship is still dark.
The BBC said Italian authorities have directed three merchant ships and two fishing vessels towards the ship. Authorities in the Seychelles say they have sent two tug boats and a Coast Guard ship to the scene.
There has been no statement from Carnival, which owns Costa Cruise Lines and which has been dealing with the Concordia which sank in shallow waters near Gigli, Italy killing at least 32 people.
While Costa is managed in Italy, it has a South Florida office in Hollywood.
