Coast Guard announces cause of engine fire aboard the Carnival Triumph (Video)

The Coast Guard has released the details concerning the cause of the fire on the Carnival Cruise ship Triumph last week that left the ship without power, water, and sanitation. The Washington Post reports on Feb. 18 that the ship had a leak in the fuel oil return line that caused the fire that left the ship sitting idly in the Gulf of Mexico. It was ultimately pulled to port in Alabama 5 days later.

Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield of the Coast Guard indicated that the full investigation would take around 6 months, although the assessment has already been made that the crew handled the fire correctly. According to the Washington Post article, the fire could have been quite serious and spread to the rest of the ship.

The crippled cruise liner Carnival Triumph limps into port guided by tug boats February 14, 2013 in Mobile, Alabama. An engine fire on February 10 left the ship and its 4,000 passengers without power and with scarce food. While people onboard reported toi

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Photo by Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

The ship’s home port is in the Bahamas, and they will lead the investigation along with the American authorities. The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board will be involved with the ship the rest of the week, and then will continue to be involved to study the case. According to the Washington Post:

“She said the investigation will look further at the cause of the fire and the crew’s response, as well as why the ship was disabled for so long.”