Cruise ship catches fire in Jamaica port
Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas
(CNS): The Freedom of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, has caught fire at a cruise port in Jamaica. The cruise line has stated that the fire broke out in a mechanical space on the ship as it arrived at the Falmouth Pier this morning but it has since been extinguished by the ship’s fire suppression system. The cruise ship, which is a regular visitor to the Cayman Islands, is due to call at George Town tomorrow.
The cruise line said passengers were assembled for evacuation and it is currently in the process of addressing the vessel’s headcount. Royal Caribbean said that no passengers were injured but a crew member was treated for burns and the ship is now operating normally.
The cruise line issued the following statement:
“On July 22, 2015, Freedom of the Seas experienced a fire in a mechanical space as the ship was pulling into Falmouth, Jamaica. The ship’s fire suppression system was immediately activated, which contained and extinguished the fire. In an abundance of caution, the Captain mustered all guests at their assembly stations. The ship is currently alongside in Falmouth and all systems are functioning.”
The cruise line gave no details of the damage caused by the on board blaze or whether the ship will depart as scheduled and dock in Cayman Thursday.
Category: Caribbean, World News
The lesson should be clear, from the recent Falmouth Jamaica cruise ship fire.
Jamaica does not mingle their cruise and cargo for well founded reasons. Do not put all your eggs in one basket, separate the cruise and cargo port, this is the opportunity we now have. It will be a serious mistake to put both in George Town. So keep George Town for cargo, and move the cruise port to another location such as South Sound or Red Bay, with the latter being suggested for decades by our experienced mariners.The vested interests however do not want this. Just bus in the cruise passengers for a vibrant taxi business.
No one cares yawns…
Much ado about nothing. This ship will be in George Town Harbour tomorrow with no delays.
How do you know that!
Well this ties in beautifully with the issue some of us have been highlighting recently;
As Costa Concordia showed us (and Royal Caribbean’s “Freedom of the Seas” today in Falmouth, Jamaica) – nearshore ship accidents and collisions can easily happen.
When we consider the cruise tourism and freight vessel activity connected to this proposed port we also see a significant increase in the chances of a 2 or multi-vessel collision (add to that fire / explosion), or a ship run aground / pier crash (see below) mishap.
If something of this nature was to happen or one or more ships capsize in our harbour – spilling gallons of oil, petrol and chemicals into the water … that will inevitably drift and pollute our Seven Mile Beach … who will be responsible? Who will say “sorry”? Who will CLEAN IT UP?
(We know we don’t have the equipment or expertise in this regard. Will we have to wait days and weeks for international assistance?)
There are far too many negatives about this proposal in my humble opinion.
“No” to the proposed cruise port.
**
“Cruise Ship Grounding Listing Tilting
Cruise Ship Accidents – Cruise Ship Collisions”
NEW July 19, 2015 – Stena Jutlandica collides with tanker in Gothenburg, Sweden.
June 27, 2015 – Louis Cristal Collides With Tanker STI Pimlico Lists after Ballast Explosion.
June 15, 2015 – Saint Laurent collision on St Lawrence River Locks, 30 injured.
May 19, 2015
Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Dawn Grounding in Bermuda
March 14, 2015
Silver Lake runs aground 1 mile south of Ocracoke, North Carolina when it drifted into shallow water and got stuck, All passengers were evacuated by the USCG.
February 21, 2015
MV Mostofa, a Bangladesh ferry collided with a cargo vessel and sank within minutes in the Padma river, over 70 dead
September 30, 2014
MV Vacance runs aground on reef with 109 aboard cruise ship, coast guard rescues all aboard
August 4, 2014
MV Versace Amara sinks after reef rips hull on 4-night cruise
August 4, 2014
Tahoe Queen grounding with over 300 aboard
July 17, 2014
Millennium Time Crashes into Tug pulling Barge with 360 Tourist onboard
July 16, 2014
Cruise ship Escapade grounding off the coast of Georgia
June 21, 2014
Cruise ship Britannia sinking in the Ijssel River near the Netherlands city of Zutphen, 194 aboard evacuated.
August 22, 1888
Steam Ship City of Chester, Collides with RMS Oceanic and Sinks, Ship found By NOAA in San Francisco Bay
April 15, 2014
South Korea ferry SEWOL grounds, lists then sinks approximately 20 km off Byungpoong, Jindo South Korea, 302 dead
January 12, 2013
Silverseas’ Silver Explorer on an Antarctic Peninsula cruise was damaged by 18-foot wave, returns to port. Several crew members injured. Next cruise was canceled.
January 10, 2013
MV Kearsarge partially sunk at the Sunapee Harbor, New Hampshire pier
January 9, 2013
Manhattan New York City ferry Seastreak, crashes into NYC pier 11, over 70 injured
August 25, 2012
V Ships Leisure’s Yorktown, a Great Lakes cruise ship, ran aground in the Detroit River. No injuries to 120 passengers aboard, no contamination, $3000 fine. Pilot error.
March 16, 2012
Silverseas Cruises’ Silver Shadow collides with a cargo ship
January 13, 2012
Costa Concordia sinks on Friday the 13th off the coast of Italy.
**
(Accidents happen. The stakes are much higher for Cayman than 99% of other places.)
– Whodatis
so if we built the port accidents will happen if we dont we are going to be accident free? well lets get rid of all ports around the world to save lives…. you sound like Fox news…. idiot
Hmm…okay buddy.
– Who
Wow — that is quite a list! close by on both sides of this dock proposal are high reefs only six or so feet from the surface. We better blast away everything within a half mile of these docks — oh wait, they are the main reason people come here. But we have an option. Keep the boats at sea on anchor, or maybe go back to the old, original idea of decades ago and put them on permanent moorings. No, they were considered too expensive. Now, they seem like a very cheap alternative. and think of all of the damage those anchors have done over the decades of anchoring. We sure are not good at making long-range plans. No — actually we do make great long term plans, we just keep forgetting to implement them. How many visions for the future have we made and ignored?
Yes Ms. Cathy.
By the way, your input and attention to this issue is very much appreciated. This coming from a Caymanian that has never been below our water’s surface for more than 1 minute at a time.
However, I respect the desire for those that love to thoroughly explore our marine life.
Thank you.
– Whodatis
That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. And I have heard a lot of stupidness in my life. Let’s stop air arrivals too, maybe the plane will crash. Oohh wait, I know… Let’s get rid of all cars, taxis, buses and bicycles that way we won’t have any more road accidents either. Let’s just be extra safe and kill all the people on the earth, than we have covered our bases.