SINGAPORE -- A former Celebrity Cruises ship caught fire off the
coast of Malaysia on May 21 and sank hours later, said officials
for Sun Cruises, which had been operating the former Meridian as
the Sun Vista.
The 553-cabin ship was carrying 472 passengers and 632 crew
members at the time of the incident. All were reported transferred
to lifeboats and rescued.
In a published statement, officials of the line said the fire
started in the 30,440-ton vessel's engine room. An investigation
was under way.
Passengers on the ill-fated voyage, which included some
Americans, were brought to Penang, Malaysia, and flown back to
Singapore on a Singapore Airlines charter flight. Several
passengers were reportedly taken to local hospitals off the coast
of Malaysia with minor injuries.
The Bahamas-flagged ship began to list and capsized six hours
after all passengers had disembarked, the line said.
According to the Associated Press, some passengers began singing
"My Heart Will Go On," the theme song from the movie "Titanic,"
before they were evacuated.
"Passengers on this cruise will be given a full refund for the
inconvenience," the line said. Officials said international
passengers booked on the line's May 23 sailing who had already
departed for Singapore would be offered alternative vacations, and
guests booked on future cruises would be given a full refund.
The Sun Vista operated six-day roundtrip cruises from Singapore,
visiting Malaysia and Thailand, on a year-round basis. Sun Cruises,
which is based here, acquired the ship from Celebrity Cruises in
1997.