A CRIPPLED Costa cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board finally arrived in the capital of Seychelles yesterday, after floundering without power in the middle of the Indian Ocean for the past three days.
A French fishing vessel managed to tow the Costa Allegra, which suffered a fire that knocked out its power generator and engines on Monday, to the port in Victoria, where medical personnel were waiting to tend to passengers.
The 636 passengers and 413 crew from 25 countries on board were reportedly in good health, according to Costa Cruises.
Representatives of the cruise line’s parent company Carnival Corporation had boarded the ship on Wednesday to make arrangements for onward flights and accommodation for guests.
This is the second major mishap for Costa since the start of the year, and a setback to its efforts to regain consumer confidence following the partial sinking of the Costa Concordia off the Italian coast on January 13, an incident which claimed 32 lives.
After the Seychelles, the Costa Allegra had been scheduled to sail along the Red Sea towards the Mediterranean.
