Costa Concordia’s sister ship is adrift in Indian Ocean

A sister ship of the cruise liner that ran aground in Italy last month was adrift in the Indian Ocean after a fire broke out in the engine room.

No casualties or injuries were reported Monday on board the Costa Allegra, which is owned by Costa Cruises, the same Italian company that operates the Costa Concordia. The Costa Concordia ran aground on the Italian island of Giglio on the night of Jan 13., killing 25 people, with another seven still unaccounted for.

Costa Cruises confirmed in a statement that a fire broke out in the electric generator room Monday afternoon but was promptly extinguished. The fire did not spread to other parts of the ship but the engines were stopped until an inspection could determine if it was safe to continue, the statement said.

The cruise line sent out a distress signal, summoning tugboats and naval ships to its location, about 200 miles southwest of the Republic of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, in an area known to be frequented by pirates.

The ship, carrying 636 passengers, including eight Americans, departed from Madagascar on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Mahe, Seychelles, according to the cruise ship operator.

Costa Cruises is a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp., whose stock remained largely unchanged Monday at $29.96 per share.

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