VIDEO: Carnival Freedom catches on fire
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Carnival Cruise ship’s funnel caught on fire during their voyage near the Bahamas on Saturday.
Carnival said that at 3:15 p.m., the Carnival Freedom reported a fire on the port side from the ship’s exhaust funnel.
In a statement from Carnival, the team said, “The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames. Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being investigated but cannot yet be confirmed.”
A portion of the funnel on the port side fell onto Deck 10.
Credit: Heath Barnes Courtesy: Carnival
Crews were able to extinguish the fire at 5:20 p.m. All aboard were asked to stay away from balconies and open decks for their safety.
Passenger Heath Barnes told WFLA.com that the ship was scheduled to be in Princess Cay at 9 a.m. on Saturday but an announcement was made at 8 a.m. letting them know that due to strong winds and stormy weather, the ship could not tender the boat.
Barnes said that around 3 p.m., he heard “the loudest thunder and lightning” and a few people he was traveling told him that the ship was on fire.
“I thought they were giving me a hard time but I got up and went out on the balcony and sure enough the flames and smoke was pouring out of the tail,” Barnes said. “Definitely an exciting day.”
Two crew members fighting the fire were treated for minor smoke inhalation, according to Carnival. As of this report, there are no reported injuries for guests.
The U.S. Coast Guard was alerted and has activated their response team. The cruise is expected to continue sailing to Freeport and arrive on Sunday morning.
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The ship was around 20 miles from Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, heading to Freeport. The ship departed from Port Canaveral on Thursday for a four-day trip.
On May 26, 2022, the same ship caught on fire while docked in Grand Turk. The inside of the Freedom’s funnel erupted in smoke and flames. The trip that was scheduled following the voyage had to be canceled.
The cruise does not expect the fire to impact the next voyage scheduled for Monday.
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