Carnival ship adrift off Turks and Caicos

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Carnival cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew is adrift in the Atlantic off the Turks and Caicos Islands after a technical problem crippled its engines, Carnival Cruise Lines said.

It was the latest in a series of mishaps to befall the ships of Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise line, including fires and engine breakdowns that have left massive cruise ships hobbled at sea.

The cruise liner Destiny broke down about 1.40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) and was adrift at midday about 60 miles (97 km) east of Grand Turk, one of the Atlantic islands that make up the British colony north of Hispaniola, the company said.

Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said Destiny's thrusters were working and it could be manoeuvred, but the captain had decided to allow it drift.

"We're letting it drift because it's drifting away from the Turks and Caicos in a direction that doesn't pose a safety threat," she said on Tuesday.

Destiny left Miami on Sunday for a seven-day Caribbean cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. It carried 2,956 passengers, as well as a crew of 1,063, the cruise line said.

Carnival said Destiny was "experiencing a technical problem with its two cycloconverters, which control the transmission of electrical power to the ship's propulsion motors."

Cycloconverters format electrical power generated by the ship's six diesel engines so that it can be used by the two electrical propulsion motors.

The company said the problem was not affecting the ship's "hotel" systems -- meaning, showers, lights and air conditioning -- and a team of technicians was en route to Destiny.

Carnival ships have suffered a series of mishaps in the past few years, including a spectacular fire aboard the liner Ecstasy in July 1998. Dozens of people suffered smoke inhalation when flames erupted at the stern of the ship as it left the Port of Miami on a four-day cruise.

Ecstasy was out of commission for nearly two months, costing Carnival more than $18 million.

On Jan. 12 of this year, a fire broke out aboard the vessel Celebration, leaving it adrift in the Caribbean for six hours north of Montego Bay, Jamaica. The ship, carrying nearly 1,600 passengers, lost power to toilets and air conditioning.

On Dec. 28, 200 passengers protested dockside in Nassau, Bahamas, complaining that engine problems on the Carnival ship Paradise had turned a millennium cruise into a nightmare. The ship was able to make only 80 percent of normal speed, forcing it to miss stops in the eastern Caribbean in favour of the nearby Bahamas and Mexico.

Last September, an engine room fire crippled the ship Tropicale in the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm roared nearby. The ship, carrying about 1,700 passengers, returned to port three days later.

In October, Tropicale, back at sea following repairs, sent dozens of passengers home early because of clogged toilets.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), February 15, 2000

Answers

Why do I suddenly get a mental picture of Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr in the scene about the end of the cruise in the "Magic Christian"? And it's been years and years since I've seen that movie.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 15, 2000.

OH MY GOD! I just booked a 7-day cruise to Mexico upon the ship "Elation," with Carnival Cruise Lines. We'll be leaving in May, oh well, I'm not going to worry about it, I survived Y2K...however, we're driving to the ship instead of flying.

-- Ms. Prudent (Ms. Prudent@Ms.Prudenttt.xcom), February 15, 2000.

Well Ms. Prudent, better call ahead, and ahead, and ahead! Our neighbors were leaving on a carnival cruise in January, and an hour before they walked out the door to drive down there, they got a call from the company. The cruise was cancelled! Some kind of fire on the ship. They had to reschedule.

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), February 16, 2000.

Can you say "Bermuda Triangle"? Dooo dooo dooo doooo.

-- (RodSerling@Twilight.Zone), February 16, 2000.