Carnival Cruise Line has canceled the Carnival Freedom's next two cruises after the ship's funnel caught fire.
The fire burned on the port side of the ship's exhaust funnel on March 23 while the ship was 20 miles off Bahamian island Eleuthera. The ship was headed to Freeport after a canceled call at Princess Cays due to bad weather, according to Florida Today.
Carnival spokesman Matt Lupoli said Carnival is investigating "multiple eyewitness reports" that a lightning strike caused the fire.
The fire was extinguished and the funnel was stabilized for the ship to return to Port Canaveral on Monday morning.
The damage will require immediate repair to further stabilize the funnel, said Carnival, which canceled the Freedom's March 25 and March 29 cruises from Port Canaveral. The ship is expected to sail to the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport for repairs.
Carnival said it will provide guests on both canceled cruises a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit, according to the line.
This is the second time the Carnival Freedom's funnel has caught fire in two years. The last fire was in May 2022 as the Freedom was in port in Turks and Caicos. The new winged funnel was installed in the fall.