A Carnival cruise ship’s tailpipe caught fire Saturday during a trip to the Bahamas, prompting the company to cancel its next two trips.
This is the second time in less than two years that it has carnival freedom, based in Port Canaveral, Florida, was affected by the fire.
“Unfortunately, the damage is more extensive than we first thought and will require immediate repairs to stabilize the flow, resulting in the cancellation of cruises from Port Canaveral on March 25 and March 29,” Matt Lupoli, Carnival Cruise Line’s senior manager of public relations , said Florida today in the statement. “The funnel has been stabilized for the ship’s return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests and will then proceed to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin necessary repairs.”
PEOPLE reached out to Carnival, but it did not immediately respond.
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‘Carnival Freedom’ arrives at Port Canaveral on Monday morning.
MALCOLM DENMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK (2)
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Carnival stated in the post on X On Saturday, eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike.
One of the cruise passengers, Heath Barnes, posted a video of the incident on Facebook on Saturday afternoon.
In a statement to TMX, Barnes said the storm was intermittent and he was on one of the upper decks of the ship when he experienced “the loudest thunder and lightning [sic] ever heard.”
After he returned to his cabin about 15 minutes later, his nephew and two friends came to tell him that the ship was on fire.
“I thought they were bothering me, but I got up and went out on the balcony and sure enough there were flames and smoke coming out of the tail,” he continued, adding that he took videos from his balcony before the passengers left and asked him to stay indoors.
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The chimney of the ship is damaged.
MALCOLM NETWORK DENMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY
A Carnival Cruise ship caught fire during a visit to the Turks and Caicos Islands
Carnival brand ambassador John Heald addressed the incident on Facebook, admitting that those affected by the cancellation “will be very disappointed”.
“I want to add my apologies and my assurances that when you rebook with a full refund and 100% credit on a future cruise, the crew will be there for you and give you all the fun you deserve,” he added.
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2 Holland America Line crew members killed during ‘incident’ on board ship in Bahamas
In May 2022 Carnival freedom caught fire during a five-day Turks and Caicos cruise.
At the time, Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that the fire broke out in the ship’s funnel while it was in Grand Turk.
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The company said its “emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished” the flames.
“All guests and crew are safe and ship guests have been cleared to disembark by local authorities,” Carnival added.
948 feet carnival freedom, built in 2007, it can accommodate just over 3,500 passengers, according to Cruise Mapper.
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