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Coast Guard issues scathing alerts on Carnival re: Splendor “Cruise to Nowhere”
The Coast Guard just released two marine safety alerts highly critical of Carnival Cruise Lines for the November 8 fire aboard the so-called “cruise to nowhere.”
Though the reports, released December 21, 2010, do not specifically mention the vessel in question, the Coast Guard confirmed to Professional Mariner that they were in fact about the Carnival Spendor.
3,299 passengers and 1,167 crewmembers were adrift in the Pacific Ocean for four days after a fire disabled generator power to the ship. Six tug boats towed the 952 foot long, 113,000 ton ship into San Diego.
Provisions such as fresh fruits and utensils were airlifted to the ship from the USS Ronald Reagan. 70,000 pounds of food and water were provided. Passengers reportedly dined on Spam, lacked air conditioning and were forced to take showers in the dark.
Among the critical events cited in the damning safety alerts are the following:
-The fire could have easily been controlled if it were not for errors in the maintenance, training and operation of the automated fire control system.
- The Fire Instruction Manual (FIM) which had numerous outdated and incorrect instructions and diagrams.
-Carbon dioxide (CO2) valves failed to open and did not release gas which could have starved the fire of oxygen.
-Water retained at low points in the CO2 piping did not drain, which caused corrosion. Moreover, there were flaws in the pipe joints and seals.
-The crew’s CO2 training level is under question.
-When the captain gave the order to activate the CO2 on November 8, the system did not operate. Crew then tried and failed to activate it manually so it never was released into the machinery space.
The crew eventually extinguished the fire but not before severe electrical damage disabled the vessel 110 miles southwest of San Diego.
As we reported in November, according to Carnival Splendor passengers, on the voyage immediately preceding the one that broke down in the November 8th fire, a smoldering smell was reported numerous times to the crew. Yet, in a story in the website Cruise Bruise.com, when the Coast Guard boarded the ship at the conclusion of the October 31st cruise, those reports were neither documented nor investigated. Instead of the problem being resolved, thousands more new passengers were welcomed aboard.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was rebuffed by Carnival in its offers to investigate the accident. The company passed the matter instead to the Panama Maritime Authority as the vessel is flagged under their registry.
According to Cruise Bruise.com, there have been five fires reported on Carnival ships since February, 2009.
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