MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board is in Mobile, Ala., to look into the cause of the engine fire aboard the Carnival cruise ship Triumph.
The fire left the ship drifting and paralyzed, with passengers enduring days of heat and stench. It finally arrived last night in Mobile after being towed to shore.
A spokesman says the NTSB will be working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bahamas Maritime Authority, which will serve as the primary investigative agency. The government in the Bahamas is taking the lead because the Triump is registered there, and it was in international waters at the time of the fire.
According to the NTSB spokesman, the agency could take information from the probe and use it to make recommendations for improving cruise ship safety.
%@AP Links
070-a-09-(Jessica Sharp, passenger from Oklahoma City, aboard the Carnival Triumph, in AP interview)-"kind of difficult"-Jessica Sharp, a passenger from Oklahoma City, says the roughest part of the ordeal was the bathroom situation on the ship. (15 Feb 2013)
<<CUT *070 (02/15/13)>> 00:09 "kind of difficult"
066-a-06-(Gerry Cahill, president and CEO, Carnival Cruise Lines, at news conference)-"to our guests"-Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill has personally apologized to the passengers. (15 Feb 2013)
<<CUT *066 (02/15/13)>> 00:06 "to our guests"
GRAPHICSBANK: The cruise ship Carnival Triumph is towed during sunset into Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island, Alabama, graphic element on black (15 Feb 2013)
APPHOTO ALMOP112: People watch from their balconies and hold up signs aboard the Carnival Triumph after it was towed to the cruise terminal in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. The ship with more than 4,200 passengers and crew members has been idled for nearly a week in the Gulf of Mexico following an engine room fire. (AP Photo/AL.com, Mike Brantley) (14 Feb 2013)
<<APPHOTO ALMOP112 (02/14/13)>>
APPHOTO ALDM156: Kendall Jenkins, left, of Houston, celebrates with Brittany Ferguson, of Houston, after getting off the Carnival Triumph in Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. The ship with more than 4,200 passengers and crew members has been idled for nearly a week in the Gulf of Mexico following an engine room fire. (AP Photo/John David Mercer) (14 Feb 2013)
<<APPHOTO ALDM156 (02/14/13)>>
