Smoke: Cruise Ship Evacuates Passengers
A number of passengers and crew members were evacuated after smoke was spotted billowing from the front section of Carnival Liberty cruise ship docked in the Dutch Caribbean nation of St Maarten.
Later the line stated that there was no fire, just an overheated bearing in the forward section. Officials say there were no reported injuries.
“Guests from a small number of staterooms near the forward section of the ship were temporarily vacated from their cabins as a precaution while the shipboard teams were handling the situation,” company spokesman Vance Gulliksen said.
He says the problem has been resolved. The ship is working on replacing the bearing. The ship’s safety systems and hotel services are functioning as normal as it was preparing to depart St. Maarten as scheduled.
The Carnival Liberty is on a seven-day Caribbean cruise that departed Port Canaveral on March 22.
An Associated Press story said smoke was “billowing” from the ship and that a fire crew raced to the dock.
