Fire put out on Royal Caribbean cruise ship en route to Bahamas

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A fire broke out aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship early on Monday, forcing the more than 2,000 guests aboard to gather at assembly areas while it was extinguished, the cruise line said.

The company said the fire broke out at 2:50 am in a mooring area on the third deck of the Grandeur of the Seas as it was enroute to Coco Bay, Bahamas. The blaze was put out two hours later.

"All 2,224 guests and 796 crew have been accounted for, and there have been no injuries of guests or crew reported," the cruise line said.

"In an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations," it said.

Two guests were treated for fainting, it said on its Twitter account.

The ship has been diverted to Freeport, Bahamas for further evaluation but the ship's power, propulsion and communications systems functioned without interruption, Royal Caribbean said.

The Grandeur of the Seas departed from Baltimore on May 24 on a week-long voyage to Coco Bay and Nassau, Bahamas.

The fire was the latest in a series of mishaps to hit the cruise ship industry.

In February, thousands were stranded for days on a Carnival Cruise Lines ship in the Gulf of Mexico without power or toilets after an engine room fire knocked out power.

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