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Passengers abandon ship after fire
PAPEETE, Tahiti (CNN) -- All 127 passengers were evacuated from a cruise ship off the Tahitian Islands Sunday following a fire in the engine room, a spokeswoman for the cruise line's owner said. Crew members aboard the sailing vessel Wind Song safely escorted passengers off of the ship early Sunday morning, said Holland America spokeswoman Rose Abello. "The passengers disembarked in an orderly fashion. No one was hurt. They were transferred to a ferry and taken to the island of Raiatea," Abello said. The passengers onboard the motor sailing yacht were on the third day of a seven-day Tahitian cruise when the fire sidelined the remainder of their trip. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The fire was reported at 1:30 a.m. Sunday (6:30 a.m. ET). The four-masted vessel was about a mile off the coast of Raiatea, the second largest of the islands in French Polynesia. The passengers will be put on a charter flight back to Papeete, Tahiti, the capital of French Polynesia, Abello said. "Upon their arrival in Papeete, the passengers will be taken to hotels and given whatever they need to make them comfortable," she said. Americans typically make up most of the ship's passengers, Abello said. The Wind Song remains off the coast of Raiatea, with 17 of its 92 crew members still onboard. The other crew members were evacuated with the passengers. There was no immediate word on whether its next scheduled cruise, set for December 6, will be canceled.
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