AT SEA/MALAYSIA: Amateur video shows interior of luxury cruise liner Azamara Quest after engine catches fire

Record ID: 861788

  • Title: AT SEA/MALAYSIA: Amateur video shows interior of luxury cruise liner Azamara Quest after engine catches fire
  • Date: 3rd April 2012
  • Summary: SANDAKAN, MALAYSIA (APRIL 2, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER, MARC KRASNICK, SAYING: "Well things happen. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER, DIANE BECKER KRASNICK, SAYING: "We had each other, we were okay. I don't think there was ever a time that we felt like we were not going to be okay, really." (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER, MARC KRASNICK, SAYING: "The only time we felt nervous was when the captain announced to go to the muster station and there were smoke coming into the restaurant, that was the most uncertainty."
  • Embargoed: 18th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: At Sea, Malaysia
  • City:
  • Country: Malaysia At Sea
  • Topics: Accidents,People,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA8018MGG7ZTIUUR8UBDFGI1EXK
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: An American couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary recounted on Monday (April 2) the scene onboard the luxury cruise liner Azamara Quest as the vessel had an engine-room fire last week, disabling the ship's engines and leaving the liner temporarily stranded off the southern Philippines coast.
    Marc Krasnick and Diane Becker Krasnick were about to have dinner in the dinning room when the unexpected event struck the vessel.
    The fire in the engine room triggered an electricity outage, forcing voyagers to spend the night on the deck due to poor ventilation in cabins.
    "We didn't have a room that had a balcony with a sliding door that would open up to outside for ventilation. Our room was probably over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so we just joined the crew -- we all just stayed there together and went out on the open deck, and deck five, up above, and that seemed to be the most comfortable spot of the ship," Marc Krasnick told Reuters from a hotel where he is now staying along with other passengers.
    The 11-deck cruise ship, carrying 600 passengers -- mostly westerners -- and 411 crew, was escorted by two Malaysian patrol vessels as it made its way into Sandakan port in Malaysia's Sabah state on Sunday (April 1).
    Five crew members suffered smoke inhalation.
    Despite the uncertainty after the fire broke out, passengers were transferred into the muster room preparing to evacuate, said Diana Becker Krasnick.
    "Although some of us were nervous, we were all helping each other. Those who were less nervous were helping the people that were more nervous and we were jovial," she said.
    Passengers have been housed at local hotels before being flown off to Singapore, expected to happen on Tuesday (April 3).
    "We had each other, we were okay. I don't think there was ever a time that we felt like we were not going to be okay, really," the couple said.
    Azamara Club Cruises, a unit of the world's No.2 cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, said it was cancelling the rest of the 17-night Southeast Asian voyage that began in Hong Kong last week.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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