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

Factual Information 42 Marine Accident Reportresponders who initially reported to an outside muster station said that, because ofhelicopters flying nearby, they occasionally had problems hearing announcementsbroadcast over the loudspeaker system. They said that when they advised thecrewmembers of the problem, they notified “officials” [the cruise director], who thenrelayed status accounts to muster personnel, who, in turn, provided the information to thepassengers.Fifty-three survey responses identified various problems or situations that were notaddressed during the drill. Several people indicated that the drill did not include specificinformation about fire emergencies, including what to do if they encountered smoke orfire. A number of respondents said that they could not report to their station because ofsmoke, and the drill did not provide information about what to do if a muster station wasnot available. Some passengers indicated that they had problems recognizingcrewmembers to direct or assist them during the emergency.Several of the responders expressed dissatisfaction about the lack of consistency inthe crew’s provision of lifejackets to the mustered passengers. During the drill, thepassengers were advised that, in the event of an emergency, if they could not retrieve thelifejackets from their staterooms, they would be provided lifejackets after reporting totheir muster stations. Seventy-nine survey responders said that they either obtainedlifejackets from their cabin or were provided lifejackets by crewmembers. Forty-sevenpassengers said that they never received lifejackets. Two passengers stated that when theyasked for lifejackets, a crewmember started to pass them out and then reportedly wasordered to stop doing so by his superiors because they were concerned that distributinglifejackets might cause panic. One passenger stated that one crewmember told her not toretrieve her lifejacket from her stateroom and later another crewmember told her to get herlifejacket from her cabin; however, when she attempted to do so, she could not reach herstateroom because of the smoke.Seventy-two responders, primarily those who had been in the aft section of theEcstasy, indicated that the emergency alarm and the announcements to muster did notoccur until after they saw or smelled smoke in their cabins and the passageways. Severalpassengers estimated that the time between the first evidence of smoke and the emergencyalarm was 30 minutes or more. Other responders indicated that they first learned about theship’s fire from television news reports.Trapped CrewmenA cabin steward whose cabin was on deck No. 2, close to the main laundry,described to Safety Board investigators how he and another crewmember became trappedby heavy smoke during the fire. About 1805-1810, he was in the passageway when heheard some of the laundry crewmembers talking in Chinese. He returned to his cabinwhere he smelled smoke. When he went back out into the passageway, the laundryworkers were talking, “maybe arguing.” One of the laundry workers told him to close hisdoor, whereupon he returned to his cabin. He then saw a small amount of smoke comingfrom his vent. He returned to the passageway and saw that the laundry crew had left. Hewent back into his cabin to grab a lifejacket and saw heavy gray smoke coming from the