Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy, Miami, Florida ...

Factual Information 11 Marine Accident ReportThe master said that when he contacted the chief engineer about the power loss,the chief engineer responded that his engineering staff could not determine the reason forthe problem because of the fire.At 1800, the master ordered the general alarm sounded alerting passengers andcrewmembers to assemble at their muster stations. At the master’s direction, the cruisedirector announced over the loudspeaker that there was a fire but that it was under control.He told Safety Board investigators that he provided status announcements to passengersabout every 5-10 minutes. Upon receiving reports from crewmembers at an outside musterstation that passengers were having problems hearing the loudspeaker announcementsbecause news helicopters were flying close to the vessel, the cruise director radioedmuster station personnel with status information to relay to passengers.At the master’s direction, the cruise director instructed mustered passengers not toreturn to their cabins for their lifejackets if they were berthed in the aft part of the ship.The cruise director announced that lifejackets would be provided to them at their musterstations. At the Safety Board’s public hearing, the master testified that he did not order thecrew to hand out lifejackets when passengers were mustered because efforts to contain thefire were successful and no one was in danger. He said that he wanted to maintain a calmenvironment by conveying the impression that the situation was under control and did notwarrant the distribution of lifejackets. He therefore ordered the crew to stop distributinglifejackets to avoid panic among the passengers.When smoke entered some muster areas, passengers were moved to other stations.<strong>Fire</strong> and Rescue ResponseBridge logs indicate that the “Alpha Team” announcement, which alerted the quickresponse team to respond and other fire teams to prepare to marshal, was made at 1725.The quick response team narrowed the location of the main fire and smoke source to theaft mooring area on deck No. 4. At 1730, upon receiving reports of a large amount ofsmoke, the bridge ordered all fire teams to assemble. According to the safety officer, by1740, the fire teams had assembled at the marshalling area on deck No. 3, had donnedtheir gear, and had prepared for firefighting. He and the staff captain then led the teams afttoward the stern of the vessel.The fire teams inspected several decks in the aft part of the ship for sources of heatand smoke but initially were unable to enter the mooring deck area because of the intenseheat from the fire. Shipboard firefighters then attempted to cool the perimeters of the aftmooring deck by spraying water on the overhead of deck No. 3, the bulkhead forward ofthe aft mooring deck (deck No. 4), and the surface of deck No. 5. Some firefighters beganboundary cooling by spraying water on the ship’s exterior shell plating.In the meantime, the tug Coastal Key West was tied up at Fisher Island (MiamiHarbor) when its master overheard a radio call from the Biscayne Pilots Association toCoastal Tug and Barge, Inc., of Miami (Coastal Tug) advising of a fire on the Ecstasy. TheCoastal Tug dispatcher radioed the Coastal Key West to assist. The tug got underway