LONG BEACH, Calif. -- After three-and-a-half months out of service, 47,000 displaced guests and a $65 million in repairs and lost revenue, the Carnival Splendor returned to service last week.
The Splendor was forced into drydock in November after an engine room fire knocked out power on the ship as it sailed off the coast of western Mexico.
During a briefing on the Splendor Feb. 19, Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill said the damage to the ship had been repaired and measures had been put in place to prevent a similar incident. (View a slideshow of the ship here.)
The fire was caused by a catastrophic failure in diesel generator No. 5. According to Cahill, the power went out because the heat from the fire melted the insulation around electrical cables, disabling them, and damaged the switchboard room.
At issue was the Splendor's second engine room, which should have kicked in when the aft engine room was debilitated.
"Having two engine rooms like we do is pretty much the norm in the cruise industry," Cahill said. "We've determined there are certain things that we can do to increase the effectiveness of that redundancy."
Those things include additional suppression systems to put out fires more quickly and additional insulation over the cabling and under the switchboard areas, Cahill said.
The Splendor re-entered service later than initially planned because damage to the engine room was more extensive than expected and because of the time it took to get spare parts manufactured, Cahill said.
A replacement diesel generator, weighing 218,000 pounds, was airlifted from Europe, and two, 106,000-pound alternators and 110 miles of electrical cabling were also replaced.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
Carnival has created a fire safety task force, which is working to improve fire prevention, detection, suppression and response capabilities across the fleet.
Cahill said the first revenue cruise following the fire, which left here Feb. 20, was full. He said that pricing has not been great but attributed that more to the economic environment than to concerns over the fire.
The 3,006-passenger ship offers seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises.
Agents who were invited onboard to see the repaired ship said their customers had been hesitant about the Splendor's Mexico itinerary, more because of reports of ongoing violence south of the border than because of sailing on the ship itself.
"It's more of the concern about Mexico" that is impacting sales, said Peter Bernhardt, vice president of Los Angeles-based Westwide International Travel. As for how Carnival handled the incident, he added, "Our clients have been satisfied with the results."