Fire engulfs cruise ship, prompting urgent evacuation of passengers and crews   

Friday, June 9, 2023

The passengers and crew members were evacuated from a cruise ship sailing in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park because of a fire on board earlier.

After a “fire incident” contained to the engine room of UnCruise Adventures’ Wilderness Discoverer ship on Monday, other vessels in the area helped disembark 51 guests and 16 crew members, the cruise line said in a news release.

Capt. Dan Blanchard, UnCruise’s owner and CEO said that we are relieved to confirm that there have been no injuries resulting from the fire. The highly trained crew promptly extinguished the fire using established emergency protocols, and CO₂ was successfully deployed for everyone’s safety.” Eleven crew members remained on board.

The line is providing guests with full refunds. They were transferred to Princess Cruises’ Sapphire Princess ship, and later moved to another ship before being disembarked at park headquarters and given hotels and flights home.

There were “no discernible environmental impacts” in the area as a result of the incident, according to UnCruise, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Wilderness Discoverer was built in 1992 and can accommodate 76 guests.

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