Bad luck and bad publicity continue for Costa Cruises. A month after its Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off Italy, killing at least 25 people, its Costa Allegra was disabled Monday in an engine-room fire, leaving it adrift in a section of the Indian Ocean known for piracy.
The liner was sailing from Madagascar to the Seychelles when it became dead in the water more than 200 miles southwest of the archipelago.
The Costa Allegra today arrived in the Seychelles capital of Victoria after a slow tow for 1,000 passengers and crew, with no engine power, no air conditioning, no lights and no water for showers or heads.
Click play for a report on the accident.
“We had to sleep on deck because there was no air conditioning and the cabins stank since we couldn’t flush the toilets,” Alena Daem, a 62-year-old passenger from Belgium, told reporters in port.
The ship was towed by a French tuna vessel under armed guard to ward off potential pirate attacks.
