The cause of the engine fire that left the cruise ship Carnival Triumph without power for five days was a leak in a fuel oil return line that sprayed onto a hot surface, the Coast Guard announced Monday.
Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield, head of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Casualty Investigation Team, said the oil caught fire when it made contact with the hot surface. She said the suppression system kicked on immediately and that the ship’s crew “did a very good job” in responding.
The fire is not suspected to have been caused intentionally.
During a teleconference with reporters Monday, Hatfield said the damage was contained to a relatively small area of the engine room. But because the oil burned at such a high temperature, crew members had to close off the room and could not immediately put out the blaze.
Hatfield deferred questions about when the fuel oil return lines were last inspected or why the damage had been so severe, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.
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