cruise ship in alaska catches fire

Dozens forced to evacuate from small cruise ship in Alaska after engine room fire

JUNEAU, Alaska — A fire in the engine room of a small cruise ship in Alaska ’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve prompted the evacuation of dozens of passengers and crew on Monday.

No injuries were reported, and the fire was extinguished, the Coast Guard said.

The fire on board the Wilderness Discoverer was reported to the Coast Guard around 7:30 a.m. UnCruise Adventures, which operates the ship, said 78 passengers and crew members were on board at the time.

All 51 passengers and most crew members were removed from the ship and placed on another cruise ship in the area, the Coast Guard said. Eleven crew members remained with the Wilderness Discoverer, which was expected to be towed to Ketchikan.

UnCruise Adventures said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The company said it would provide full refunds to affected passengers.

The Associated Press

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Passengers and crew evacuated from small cruise ship in Alaska’s Glacier Bay after fire breaks out

The cruise ship Sapphire Princess and the vessel Wilderness Discoverer in Glacier Bay National Park on Monday after a fire was reported on the smaller vessel. (U.S Coast Guard photo via Facebook)

Nearly 70 people were evacuated from a small cruise ship in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park after a fire Monday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

There were no reports of injuries.

Crew members on the 178-foot vessel Wilderness Discoverer reported a fire at 7:30 a.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement. The boat is owned by UnCruise Adventures, a small-ship cruise company based in Juneau with itineraries in Southeast Alaska.

The 51 passengers and 16 crew members aboard the Wilderness Discoverer were “safely disembarked aboard the cruise ship Sapphire Princess,” a much larger cruise ship that was in the area, the Coast Guard said. Tender boats were used to ferry passengers from the smaller ship to the Sapphire Princess, a far larger ship that can carry 3,670 passengers and crew.

The two boats were in the west arm of Glacier Bay, transiting the main channel, UnCruise owner Dan Blanchard said by phone Monday. The busy area sees frequent boat traffic.

The fire was likely caused by a generator and was extinguished by an onboard fire suppression system, Blanchard said. Evacuated passengers will get off the larger cruise ship and go back to Juneau on Monday night, he said. A skeleton crew of Wilderness Discoverer staff remained onboard to be with the boat

The damaged vessel will be towed to Ketchikan, the Coast Guard said.

Blanchard said his crew handled the fire smoothly.

“I’m super happy about the response of the crew; you respond the way you are trained,” he said. “They just did the right things.”

A separate and unrelated helicopter medevac of a passenger on the Sapphire Princess cruise ship was underway by the Coast Guard Monday afternoon, according to Petty Officer Third Class Ian Gray.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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Passengers evacuated after fire breaks out on cruise ship in Glacier Bay

Nearly 70 passengers and crew were evacuated from a small cruise ship on Monday morning after an engine room fire disabled UnCruise’s Wilderness Discoverer in Glacier Bay.

The fire was reported to the U.S. Coast Guard around 7:30 a.m.

“By the time we got there, they had put the fire out,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Ian Gray said. “All of the passengers were taken off and were in good health.”

The Sapphire Princess, a larger Princess Cruises ship that was sailing nearby, responded to radio calls from the Wilderness Discoverer and used one of its lifeboats to bring over the 51 passengers and 16 crew members. A handful of crew members stayed behind on the ship, which is being towed to a shipyard in Ketchikan.

Local and federal authorities will examine the damage in the coming days. 

“Once it’s moored up at the pier, we’ll start the investigation process,” Gray said. “We’ll get Coast Guard personnel aboard and probably more than likely the Alaska State Troopers.” 

A different UnCruise ship picked up the Wilderness Discoverer’s passengers and brought them back to the company’s headquarters in Juneau on Monday afternoon. UnCruise representatives said all of the passengers would get full refunds.

Correction: 51 passengers and 16 crew members were taken off the Wilderness Discoverer.

Anna Canny, KTOO - Juneau

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Passengers, crew evacuated from cruise ship after fire

Passengers and crew members were evacuated from a cruise ship sailing in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park because of a fire on board earlier this week.

After a “fire incident” contained to the engine room of UnCruise Adventures’ Wilderness Discoverer ship on Monday, other vessels in the area helped disembark 51 guests and 16 crew members, the cruise line said in a news release.

“We are relieved to confirm that there have been no injuries resulting from the fire,” Capt. Dan Blanchard, UnCruise’s owner and CEO, said in the release. “Our highly trained crew promptly extinguished the fire using established emergency protocols, and CO2 was successfully deployed for everyone's safety.” Eleven crew members remained on board.

Cruise ship medical facilities: What happens if you get sick or injured (or bitten by a monkey)

The line is providing guests with full refunds. They were transferred to Princess Cruises’ Sapphire Princess ship, and later moved to another ship before being disembarked at park headquarters and given hotels and flights home.

There were “no discernible environmental impacts” in the area as a result of the incident, according to UnCruise, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Wilderness Discoverer was built in 1992 and can accommodate 76 guests.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Dozens evacuated from small cruise ship in Alaska after engine room fire

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A fire in the engine room of a small cruise ship in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve prompted the evacuation of dozens of passengers and crew on Monday. No injuries were reported, and the fire was extinguished, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The fire on board the Wilderness Discoverer was reported to the Coast Guard around 7:30 a.m. UnCruise Adventures, which operates the ship, said 78 passengers and crew members were on board at the time.

All 51 passengers and most crew members were removed from the ship and placed on another cruise ship in the area, the Coast Guard said. Eleven crew members remained with the Wilderness Discoverer, which was expected to be towed to Ketchikan.

UnCruise Adventures said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The company said it would provide full refunds to affected passengers.

Fire forces evacuation of 51 passengers from cruise ship in Southeast Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Members of the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a fire onboard a small cruise ship in Glacier Bay National Park on Monday.

All members on board the ship Wilderness Discoverer were safely rescued, according to the Coast Guard.

In a press release , a fire was reported on the 176-foot expedition ship around 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

Crews of the cutters Pike and Anthony Petit were dispatched from Juneau to Glacier Bay, where all 51 passengers and 16 crew members were rescued from the vessel, which houses 34 cabins. Air Station Sitka also assisted with the deployment of their MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and resources from the National Parks Service were used as well.

No injuries were reported and the fire has been extinguished, Coast Guard crews report.

”Our primary concern is ensuring the safety of the passengers and the crew,” Sector Juneau command duty officer L.t. j.g. Maximilian Carfagno said. “The quick launch of our assets and the teamwork among the Sapphire Princess helped in the timeliness of this rescue.”

Those onboard the Wilderness Discoverer were transferred to the Sapphire Princess cruise ship. Some crew of the Wilderness Discoverer have stayed aboard and will rendezvous with the tug boat Taku Wind for tow to Ketchikan.

The owner and CEO of Uncruise, which operates the vessel, expressed gratitude that no one was injured in the emergency.

“We are relieved to confirm that there have been no injuries resulting from the fire. Our highly trained crew promptly extinguished the fire using established emergency protocols, and CO2 was successfully deployed for everyone’s safety,” Dan Blanchard said in a press release .

Uncruise, which bills itself as an environmentally-conscious alternative to large cruise ships, also said that the efforts to extinguish the fire and relocate passengers did not result in significant impacts to the environment.

“In adherence to our commitment to environmental responsibility, we have conducted thorough assessments, and we are pleased to report that there are currently no discernible environmental impacts within the affected area. Local and federal authorities have been promptly notified, and we are working closely with them to ensure a coordinated response in the area,” Uncruise said in a press release.

The cause of the fire, which was confined to the engine room of the ship, has yet to be determined.

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Passengers and crew rescued from cruise ship after engine room fire

All passengers were rescued from a cruise ship in Glacier Bay, Alaska Monday morning after a fire broke out in the ship’s engine room.

Fifty-one passengers and 16 crew members were evacuated from the Wilderness Discoverer, a small expedition ship owned by California-based Adventure Smith Explorations.

Sapphire Princess, a cruise ship that departed from Vancouver Wednesday, was alerted by the U.S. Coast Guard around 9 a.m. that the Discoverer was nearby and needed help.

The Princess, also owned by a California-based cruise line, sent a water shuttle to transfer the passengers and crew to their ship.

There were no injuries, according to a statement from Princess Cruises.

“Princess Cruises continues to work with the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities to support these passengers in their forward travel,” the company wrote.

Eleven crew members remained on board the Discoverer, which was scheduled to be towed by a tug boat to Ketchikan, Alaska, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast guard cutter ships and a helicopter were sent to the area to assist the Discoverer.

"Our primary concern is ensuring the safety of the passengers and the crew," said Lt. j.g. Maximilian Carfagno, the command duty officer at the Coast Guard’s Sector Juneau command center, in a statement.

“The quick launch of our assets and the teamwork among the Sapphire Princess helped in the timeliness of this rescue,” he continued.

“It’s been a wild day to say the least,” Laura Greenleaf, a passenger on the Sapphire Princess, told CTV News. ““Everybody seemed in good spirits for the most part.”

She said the passengers of the Discoverer were on the larger ship for less than an hour before another vessel came to transport them.

Later, another helicopter was sent to rescue a passenger having a medical emergency. Greenleaf said it was a passenger of the Princess and unrelated to the fire incident.

“It’s also a little concerning, because when they made the first announcement you’re like ‘Oh my gosh is our ship on fire?’” she recalled of the rescue.

“We've never had this kind of situation before, and then to have it compounded with somebody else needing assistance is kind of unheard of,” she said.

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A lifeboat from the Sapphire Princess cruise ship loads passengers and crew from the Wilderness Discoverer after an engine fire on the vessel Monday morning. No significant injuries were reported and U.S. Coast Guard officials said the disabled vessel will be towed to Ketchikan. (Photo by Dan Reilly)

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Passengers, crew rescued from Alaska cruise ship in Glacier Bay National Park

More than 50 passengers and 16 crew members were rescued after the cruise ship they were on caught fire in glacier bay, national park in alaska, on monday..

Cruise ship Carnival Sunshine pounded by large waves during coastal storm near Charleston, South Carolina

Passengers aboard the cruise ship Carnival Sunshine were left distressed as large waves churned up by a powerful storm off the Southeast coast pounded the vessel, delaying its return from the Bahamas over the Memorial Day weekend.  

Dozens of passengers and crew members were rescued after the cruise ship they were on caught fire in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska on Monday.

The U.S. Coast Guard said they received a call from the Wilderness Discoverer cruise ship around 7:30 a.m.

Boat and aircrews from the Coast Guard quickly responded, along with resources from the National Park Service.

CRUISE SHIP CARNIVAL SUNSHINE POUNDED BY LARGE WAVES DURING COASTAL STORM NEAR CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

"All 51 passengers, along with 16 crew members, were safely disembarked aboard the cruise ship Sapphire Princess," officials said in a statement.

FILE -- Cruise Ship Wilderness Discoverer Fog clouds Glacier Bay Inside Passage Southeast Alaska USA. 

(Education Images/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

"Our primary concern is ensuring the safety of the passengers and the crew," said L.t. j.g. Maximilian Carfagno, the command duty officer at the Sector Juneau command center. "The quick launch of our assets and the teamwork among the Sapphire Princess helped in the timeliness of this rescue."

VACATION TURNS INTO NIGHTMARE FOR A SEATTLE MAN AFTER A ‘ROGUE WAVE’ PARALYZES HIM

Officials say that 11 crew members remained aboard the Wilderness Discoverer and are scheduled to rendezvous with the tug boat Taku Wind, which will tow the vessel to Ketchikan. 

UnCruise Adventures, the company that owns the Wilderness Discoverer, said the fire was contained to the engine room onboard the 76-passenger vessel, but the cause remains unknown. 

"We are relieved to confirm that there have been no injuries resulting from the fire. Our highly trained crew promptly extinguished the fire using established emergency protocols, and CO2 was successfully deployed for everyone's safety," said UnCruise Adventures Owner & CEO, Captain Dan Blanchard.

"Guests … will be taken to the park headquarters, and flights home will be organized for them. All guest's belongings will be gathered and transported to them and our focus continues to be on the safety of the guests and crew in this situation," Liz Galloway, director of marketing for UnCruise Adventures, tells FOX Weather. "All guests will receive a full refund." 

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