Stored Cleaning Fluids Called Cause of Cruise Ship Fire, Blast

Stored cleaning fluids caught fire and ignited an oxygen tank, causing the explosion aboard the cruise ship Emerald Seas that injured 17 people and forced passengers to abandon ship, investigators said Thursday.

The fire began Wednesday in an 8-by-8-foot engineer’s locker on the second of the ship’s nine decks, Bernard A. Chabot, the president of Eastern Cruise Lines, said after the ship had returned to Miami.

Paint and cleaning fluids inside the locker ignited, causing a nearby oxygen tank to explode and sending clouds of acrid smoke through nearby decks, Chabot said.

Coast Guard Capt. Curt Martin said investigators do not know what caused the materials to ignite, but there was no indication that the fire and explosion were anything other than an accident. He said the materials were stored properly and he called the crew’s handling of the fire “exemplary.”

Explosion Damage

Most of the damage was caused by the explosion, Martin said.

Nearly 1,000 passengers abandoned the ship in lifeboats for a nearby small island--some after crawling on their knees through smoky hallways.

Chabot said 15 passengers and two crew members were injured, none seriously. All 17 were airlifted to Miami hospitals by the Coast Guard, and hospital officials reported Thursday that 12 had been released.

A spokeswoman for Eastern Cruise Lines said some looting occurred when passengers fled their cabins for the lifeboats. Laura Bennett said it was not known how much cash and jewelry was taken, but ship authorities were investigating “a stack of theft reports.”