Carnival cruise fire that disabled ship caused by fuel leak, coast guard says

Full investigation into Triumph cruise ship, which lost electricity and air conditioning in engine room fire, to take six months

An engine room fire that left the Carnival Triumph stranded without power in the Gulf of Mexico for days was caused by a fuel leak, a US coast guard official said on Monday.

Commander Theresa Hatfield told reporters during a conference call that a full investigation into what happened to the stricken ship would take six months.

The Triumph lost electricity, air conditioning and functioning toilets in the aftermath of the fire in the early hours of Sunday 10 February. The outage led to unsanitary conditions for the 3,143 passengers and over 1,000 crew on board. It finally made port in Mobile, Alabama, late on Thursday.

Hadfield said the Bahamas - where the ship is registered - is leading the investigation, with help from the coast guard and National Transportation Safety Board. She said investigators have been with the ship since it arrived Thursday in Mobile, and that interviews had been conducted with passengers and crew.

The crew responded appropriately to the fire, Hadfield said. "They did a very good job," she added. The Carnival Triumph left Galveston, Texas, on 7 February for a four-day cruise. Instead passengers were forced to remain on the trip for an extra three days in unpleasant conditions as toilets overflowed and human waste reportedly began to seep through walls in lower deck cabins. The ship was met by tugboats in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday 11 February and guided to Alabama.

Officials from Carnival Cruise Lines have said the company will pay for all passengers' onward travel, fully reimburse everyone for the trip, give every passenger a free cruise and pay $500 each in compensation.

Passengers on the Triumph told of resorting to using showers and red plastic bags for human waste and having to ration food and water in the days immediately following the fire. Many took to sleeping above deck in makeshift tents due to the heat and stench below.

The company came under scrutiny last year after the Costa Concordia, operated by a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise Lines, partially sank in Italy, killing 32 people. The Carnival Triumph was actually seized in Texas in March 2012 after a lawsuit was filed against Carnival Cruise Lines on behalf of a woman who died on the Concordia.