preview

Splendor Ship Research Paper

Decent Essays

Carnival Cruise Lines: Fire Aboard a Stranded Cruise Ship In the early morning hours of November 8, 2010 the aft engine room of the Carnival Splendor ship caught fire, and left the ship without power. The Splendor ship is one of the largest ships in the Carnival fleet with 13 passenger decks. The ship is so large it requires six diesel engines to operate. Half of the engines are located in the aft (or rear) engine room and the other half are located in a forward engine room. These engine rooms are connected together by electric switchboards and cables. “The blaze was extinguished within a few hours by crew members with the aid of the built-in fire-suppression system” (O’Rourke, 2013, p140). Fortunately, no crew or passengers were injured (O’Rourke, 2013). The Splendor ship had been inspected regularly pursuant to the Coast Guard and all regulations. It was designed by Italian shipbuilders to “ensure that damage to a single generator and switchboard wouldn’t inhibit the rest …show more content…

Around 6:00 a.m. that first morning, passengers reporting smelling and seeing smoke from the back of the ship. The cruise director, John Heald, made frequent announcements for both passengers and the crew, to keep them informed and calm during the fire, and afterwards as plans were being made on what to do next when the engineers were unable to restore power. “After the fire, Carnival Splendor was about 200 miles south of San Diego and dead in the water. Originally scheduled as a seven-day cruise from Long Beach to Puerto Vallarta, the new objective was to safely transport the passengers to a port as soon as possible” (O’Rourke, 2013, p141). The United States Coast Guard, the Mexican Navy and the United States Navy all worked together to get assistance to the ship and passengers for the next three days as tug boats pulled the large ship back to San Diego (O’Rourke,

Get Access