AT SEA: DRAMATIC SCENES SHOT BY PASSENGER OF LAST FEW HOURS OF SUN VISTA CRUISE LINER THAT SUNK OFF MALAYSIAN COAST

Record ID: 503756

  • Title: AT SEA: DRAMATIC SCENES SHOT BY PASSENGER OF LAST FEW HOURS OF SUN VISTA CRUISE LINER THAT SUNK OFF MALAYSIAN COAST
  • Date: 20th May 1999
  • Summary: AT SEA, OFF MALAYSIAN COAST (MAY 20, 1999) (REUTERS - AMATEUR FOOTAGE) WS PEOPLE ON DECK WITH SMOKE BILLOWING FROM CHIMNEY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON DECK PAN UP DECK/ZOOM OUT WITH SMOKE COMING OUT OF CABINS (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS CAPTAIN SPEAKING OVER MEGAPHONE/ VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON DECK (3 SHOTS) GV CARGO SHIP NEARBY VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS PUTTING ON LIFE JACKETS PAN TO JAPANESE PASSENGERS (3 SHOTS) TILT UP THICK SMOKE BILLOWING FROM TOP OF SHIP/ PASSENGERS GETTING INTO LIFEBOATS TILT UP/MV LIFEBOAT GETTING LOWERED (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS PASSENGERS IN LIFEBOATS/ MAN CRYING VARIOUS OF LINER SUN VISTA ON FIRE / VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS IN LIFEBOATS/ LIFEBOATS MOVING AWAY FROM SHIP (13 SHOTS) VARIOUS RESCUE BOATS ATTEMPTING TO EXTINGUISH FIRE (3 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF CRUISE LINER WITH THICK SMOKE SHOT FROM ON BOARD FERRY AT DISTANCE (3 SHOTS) VARIOUS NIGHT SHOT OF PASSENGERS BEING RESCUED FROM LIFEBOATS (2 SHOTS) AMATEUR VIDEO MATERIAL PURCHASED BY REUTERS TELEVISION Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 4th June 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AT SEA, OFF MALAYSIAN COAST
  • Country: At Sea
  • Topics: Disasters,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA7AVN12SSO7L1W52FZO8T48N2R
  • Story Text: Dramatic scenes showing the last few hours of a luxury liner that sank off the Malaysian coast have been recorded by some of the ship's passengers.
    Passengers of the Sun Vista cruise liner knew about the fire in the engine room at 2:30 P.M.(0630 GMT) on Thursday (May 2) afternoon.The ship's crew had told them the fire could be put out.
    But by 3:15 p.m, the ship's power failed and fire had then spread out.By 7:20 p.m., passengers and crew had abandoned ship in 18 life boats and four life rafts.
    They bobbed in the sea for several hours before rescue ships picked them up.
    All these scenes were recorded by some of the ship's passengers.
    Passengers came from at least two dozen countries.The greatest numbers were from Britain, Australia, India, Switzerland, Mauritius, Singapore, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.Most of the crew were from the Philippines.
    The Sun Vista, registered in the Bahamas, sank about 60 nautical miles south of Penang in the Strait of Malacca.It was heading from Phuket Island in Thailand to Singapore.
    The strait divides Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra Island, and is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
    On Saturday (May 22) maritime offcials began their investigation.Officials said they could not comment on the likely causes of the fire.
    The 36-year-old, ship developed a list and capsized about six hours later, Singapore-based Sun Cruises Ltd who owned the ship said.Weather conditions were calm in the Strait of Malacca at the time.
    All the passengers and crew on board the 214-metre (702-feet) ship were rescued.Sun Cruises said there were 632 crew and 472 passengers on board, a total of 1,104.
    But the New Straits Times daily newspaper said an actual headcount taken before the ship left the Thai resort of Phuket for Singapore showed 632 crew and 460 passengers, a total of 1,092.
    The paper said the final number of passengers rescued came to 1,093, with one extra person.Police dismissed the idea of a stowaway, the paper said.
    Marine insurance sources told Reuters one possible cause for the sinking was that firefighters were forced to use water to extinguish flames, causing the ship to become unstable.
    The sources said carbon dioxide extinguishers had not killed the fire.
    The Star newspaper said some passengers were heard singing "My Heart Will Go On", the theme tune to the blockbuster movie "Titanic" about the massive cruise liner which sank in in the mid-Atlantic 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
    The paper said a Filipino band played as the fire raged, mirroring the Titanic's last moments.Some Sun Vista passengers were even seen swimming in the ship's pool as the evacuation got underway.
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