During a trip to the Bahamas, a Carnival cruise ship's exhaust funnel caught fire, resulting in part of the funnel collapsing onto one of its decks.
According to a report by CNN, the Carnival Freedom’s exhaust funnel went up in flames Saturday while carrying passengers on a trip that had started in Port Canaveral, Florida on Thursday.
The fire started around 3:15 p.m. 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, while on its way to port in Freeport, and as a result of the fire the side-portion of the exhaust funnel fell onto Deck 10 of the ship, the report states.
It's not clear how many people were on board the ship when the fire broke out, but according to Carnival's website, the Carnival Freedom has a capacity for 2,980 guests and 1,150 crew members.
While the cruise line tells WFLA that no passengers were injured, it confirmed that two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.
“The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames. Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being investigated but cannot yet be confirmed,” Carnival said in a statement to WFLA.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, it's worth noting that this is reportedly the second time in nearly two years that the Carnival Freedom ship's funnel has caught fire.
The ship was able to return with all its passengers to Florida on Monday, according to WFLA, but due to the extensive damage it suffered it had to cancel its next two trips that were scheduled for this week. Instead, the ship will now return to Freeport for repairs.
Scripps News reached out to Carnival for more information but has not heard back.
