Cruise Ship Stranded in the Gulf of Mexico

A Carnival Cruise ship stranded over 4,200 passengers in the Gulf of Mexico and is awaiting rescue after an engine caught fire Sunday morning.

The fire that broke out in the engine room disabled the ship Triumph 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula on its way back to Galveston, Texas.

Automatic fire extinguishers put out the fire before it could spread beyond the engine room and nobody on board was injured.

Another one of Carnival's ships, Elation, responded to the scene and transferred necessary provisions to Triumph. On Monday afternoon, another ship is scheduled to bring additional food and water.

According to Carnival, two tugboats are scheduled to arrive around noon on Monday and will tow the ship to the closest port in Progreso, Mexico.

The ship is scheduled to arrive in Progreso late Wednesday, then the passengers will be flown back to the United Sates on chartered aircraft.

All 3,143 guests on board will be fully reimbursed for this cruise and travel expenses, as well as credit for a future cruise equal to the amount paid for their trip on the Triumph.

Since the fire occurred, the ship was able to maintain emergency generator power and the technical team on board is restoring auxiliary power to operate basic hotel functions for the guests on board.

No medical emergencies have been reported at this time.

The next two voyages scheduled to depart on Monday, February 11, and Saturday, February 16, have been cancelled.