Crippled Costa Allegra Expected to Reach Seychelles Thursday
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LAURENT FIEVET/AFP/Getty Images(VICTORIA, Seychelles) — More than 1,000 passengers and crew on the Costa Allegra luxury cruise ship prepared to sleep on the outside decks for the third night in a row, as the sun set over the waters of the Indian Ocean and the crippled vessel made its way slowly toward the Seychelles’ main island of Mahe.
The ship is expected to arrive at Mahe at 9 a.m. Thursday local time. It was reported that the ship was moving at six knots, but the Seychelles government said high winds and choppy waters were making the journey slow. The weather is reportedly warm and humid with cloudy skies.
The cruise liner, which has been adrift since it lost power Monday because of a fire in its engine room, is off the coast of Desroches, but cannot dock there because the small island does not meet the necessary security conditions.
In addition to the French fishing vessel pulling the ship and the two tugboats that arrived Tuesday to push, a Seychelles Coast Guard boat is accompanying the Allegra as it hobbles to the Mahe harbor.
Although there were early fears of a pirate attack because the ship was in open waters off the coast of Somalia, the Allegra is now in Seychelles waters and is no longer in danger.
Eight American citizens are on board for what was supposed to be a nearly month-long cruise with numerous stops at island nations off the east coast of Africa along the way to Savona, Italy.
The majority of the passengers are European, although 15 Russians, 13 Canadians and two Brazilians are also aboard. Nine members of the Italian Navy are also on board, tasked with security against pirates.
This is the second emergency situation this year for Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. In January, 25 people are known to have died and seven are still missing and presumed dead after the Costa Concordia capsized after hitting rocks off the Italian island of Giglio.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio