A Carnival cruise ship’s exhaust funnel caught fire on Saturday during a trip to the Bahamas, causing the company to cancel its next two voyages.
“Regrettably, the damage is more than we first thought, and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, resulting in the cancellation of the March 25 and March 29 cruises from Port Canaveral,” Matt Lupoli, Carnival Cruise Line’s senior manager of public relations,toldFlorida Todayin a statement. “The funnel has been stabilized for the ship’s return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests, and then it will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Carnival, but did not immediately hear back.
The ‘Carnival Freedom’ coming into Port Canaveral Monday morning.MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK (2)
MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK (2)
While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, Carnivalnoted in a post on XSaturday that eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike.
One of the cruise’s passengers, Heath Barnes,posted footageof the incident on Facebook Saturday afternoon.
In a statement to TMX, Barnes said it had been storming on and off and he was on one of the ship’s upper decks when he experienced “the loudest thunder and lightening [sic] I have ever heard.”
After he returned to his cabin for about 15 minutes, his nephew and two friends came to tell him the ship was on fire.
“I thought they were giving me a hard time but I got up and went out on the balcony and sure enough the flames and smoke was pouring out of the tail,” he continued, adding that he took the videos from his balcony before travelers were asked to stay indoors.
The smoke stack of the ship was damaged.MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK
MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK
In May 2022, theCarnival Freedomcaught fireduring a five-day cruise to Turks and Caicos.
At the time, Carnival Cruise Line verified that a fire broke out in the funnel of the ship while it was in Grand Turk.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The company said its “emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished” the flames.
The 948-footCarnival Freedom,built in 2007, can hold just over 3,500 passengers, according toCruise Mapper.
source: people.com
