Monday, May 14, 2007

Hoping our honeymoon goes more smoothly...


Passengers rescued from cruise ship off Alaska

(CNN) -- All of the passengers aboard a U.S. cruise ship were evacuated early Monday morning after it ran aground off the southeastern coast of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska state ferries and about 50 volunteer rescue boats removed the 248 passengers aboard the Empress of the North approximately 50 nautical miles (57 miles) from Alaska's capital, Juneau, near Icy Strait and Chatham Strait.

The ship was still flooding, but was traveling to Juneau under its own power. Thirty-three of its 75 crew members stayed on board for the trip.

An oil tank was breached, but there is no pollution in the water, officials said.

Coast Guard spokesman Mark Guillory said the Coast Guard was trying to decide where to send the ship for an investigation into why it hit rocks in the island-dotted Alaska coastal area. Empress of the North was on the second day of a seven-day cruise from Juneau.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home