carnival cruise smokestack fire

Carnival Cruise Ship Smokestack Catches Fire in Turks & Caicos

Published may 26, 2022 • updated on may 26, 2022 at 5:20 pm.

The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands caught fire on Thursday and officials allowed guests and crew members to go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

Carnival said in a statement that no one was injured during the incident in Grand Turk, although it was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which was filmed by passengers.

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The @Carnival Freedom is on fire in Port at #GrandTurk #Carnival pic.twitter.com/7GgoWLG2Tc — Brian H (@Budman922) May 26, 2022

“All guests and crew are safe,” the company said.

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The Carnival Freedom had departed Florida on Monday for a five-day cruise.

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Carnival cruise ship catches fire in turks and caicos.

Dramatic videos emerged on social media Thursday, showing flames and thick black smoke pouring out of the smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship in the Turks and Caicos.

The cruise line confirmed that a part of Carnival Freedom caught fire after the ship docked at Grand Turk.

“Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk,” company spokesperson Matt Lupoli told The Post in a statement. “All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore.”

No injuries were reported and the ship was not evacuated during the emergency. The cause of the fire remains unknown at this time.

Still photos and cellphone recordings that have been circulating on Twitter depicted smoke billowing from the right fin of the smokestack, painted red, white and blue, as reported by ClickOrlando.

Carnival Freedom set sail from Port Canaveral, Florida, on May 23 on a five-day cruise. It is scheduled to return Saturday.

Carnival Freedom was launched in 2007. It measures 952 feet in length, has 13 decks and can accommodate up to 2,980 passengers and 1,150 crew.

At the time of the fire, the vessel was carrying about 2,500 passengers and 1,100 crew members, according to the cruise line.

Passenger Jenny Fleming told Florida Today that she and her mother were drinking coffee on a balcony as Carnival Freedom was docking at Grand Turk at around 7:30 a.m. local time, when some people on an adjacent ship, Carnival Mardi Gras , alerted them to the fire.

“Mom runs inside and calls 911, and we were apparently the first to report it,” Fleming said.

Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control, and the passengers got the all-clear at around 8:40 a.m.

The fire was reported around the same time as another Carnival Cruise ship, Carnival Magic, docked in Norfolk, Virginia , after passengers began vomiting and complaining of nausea caused by a chemical smell.

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Video shows scary moments after a cruise ship caught fire

Passengers aboard a cruise ship docked in Grand Turk Island got a surprise that wasn’t on the itinerary Thursday.

As photos and video taken aboard the Carnival Freedom illustrate, black smoke and flames poured out of the ship’s funnel as passengers donned life jackets and were evacuated from the vessel’s upper decks.  

"On Thursday morning while in port at Grand Turk, Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel," said the cruise line in a statement . "All guests and crew are safe, and all other ship, hotel, and guest services, along with safety equipment are fully functioning."

According to the statement, most of the ship's 2,504 passengers were ashore at the time the fire broke out.

Plans were soon made to get all guests back to Port Canaveral in Florida, where they originally set sail from Monday for what was meant to be a 5-day cruise. But since Freedom won't be seaworthy in time for an already delayed departure, those arrangements required the cancellation of another Carnival cruise.

"Carnival Conquest’s next cruise, departing May 27 from Miami has been cancelled and that ship will be deployed to Grand Turk to transport Freedom guests back to Port Canaveral," the company explained. "Carnival Conquest will arrive to Grand Turk on Saturday, May 28 and guests aboard Carnival Freedom will transfer to Carnival Conquest for the voyage back to Port Canaveral, arriving on Monday, May 30."

Carnival Freedom's next scheduled cruise, originally planned for Saturday, has also been cancelled.

Repairs are set to begin on the ship's funnel after all passengers are off the ship.

The statement closed, noting, "Carnival apologized to all those guests who are impacted and offered special thanks to the crew who handled the situation on the ship effectively and according to safety protocols."

It remains unclear what caused the fire.

Ree Hines is a freelance writer and editor who covers pop culture, lifestyle stories and trending news. She’s also a soul-music loving, coffee-obsessed member of both Team Cat and Team Dog. Ree lives in Tampa, Florida, and is a regular contributor to TODAY.com.

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Guests and crew aboard Carnival Cruise ship that caught fire in Turks & Caicos safe, company says

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands caught fire on Thursday and officials allowed guests and crew members to go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

Carnival said in a statement that no one was injured during the incident in Grand Turk, although it was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which was filmed by passengers.

"All guests and crew are safe," the company said.

The Carnival Freedom had departed Florida on Monday for a five-day cruise.

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Fire and smoke shoot out of cruise ship’s funnel

‘a piece of the funnel fell from the the top deck while smoke and ash flew in the wind,’ said eyewitness, article bookmarked.

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Dramatic flames and thick black smoke engulfed the funnel of a Carnival Cruise ship on Thursday, after the vessel caught fire while docked in the Turks and Caicos islands.

The 110,000-tonne Carnival Freedom caught alight while docked in Grand Turk yesterday morning, with hundreds of holidaymakers watching as fire and smoke shot from the vessel.

The ship was docked alongside the cruise line’s Mardi Gras ship, with passengers across the water taking photos and video of the scene.

Twitter user Brian H described the incident, saying: “Shortly after the Carnival Freedom arrived in Port next to us on the Mardi Gras, smoke and flames began to shoot out of the exhaust funnel.

“The crew quickly started to battle the fire to extinguish it. A partial piece of the funnel fell [from] the the top deck while smoke and ash flew in the wind.

“Luckily the wind was blowing away from our ship. The crew did a great job as it appears the fire did not spread any further than where it was.”

Meanwhile, Freedom passenger Jen reported: “A little bit of the panic on the boat as we had to put on life jackets and go to muster areas.”

The Carnival Freedom had left Port Canaveral in Florida for a five-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Monday, and is scheduled to return to the port on Saturday.

It had scheduled stops of the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos before returning to the departure point.

In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line said that “an emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk.”

The company added: “All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore. We continue to assess the situation”.

A printed letter issued to guests onboard and posted to Twitter said that a technical team would be boarding on Thursday afternoon to assess the damage, and that the Freedom’s sister ship, Carnival Conquest, was being sent to retrieve passengers and return them to Florida.

It added that guests would board the new ship on Saturday evening and set sail for the US coast, arriving on Monday morning.

It assured those who had bought wifi or drinks packages that they would have their package extended on the replacement ship and said that each stateroom would be credited $100 to spend onboard.

The Freedom is 290m long with a capacity for more than 3,000 passengers. Later in the day, Carnival shared photos of the ship sailing as normal.

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Carnival Freedom’s smokestack catches fire in Turks & Caicos

Post date: May 27 2022

Date: May 27 2022

By: The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands caught fire on Thursday and officials allowed guests and crew members to go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

Carnival said in a statement that no one was injured during the incident in Grand Turk, although it was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which was filmed by passengers.

“All guests and crew are safe,” the company said.

The Carnival Freedom had departed Florida on Monday for a five-day cruise.

Tags: Carnival Cruise Line, Lead Story, Turks & Caicos

Cruise ship smokestack catches fire in Turks & Caicos

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands has caught on fire, and officials let guests and crew members go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

Carnival said in a statement that no one was injured during Thursday’s incident in Grand Turk.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire.

Passengers filmed the incident.

The company said all guests and crew were safe.

The Carnival Freedom had departed Florida on Monday for a five-day cruise.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Cruise ship smokestack catches fire in Turks & Caicos

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands has caught on fire, and officials let guests and crew members go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

Carnival said in a statement that no one was injured during Thursday’s incident in Grand Turk.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire.

Passengers filmed the incident.

The company said all guests and crew were safe.

The Carnival Freedom had departed Florida on Monday for a five-day cruise.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Video: flames, black smoke come out of carnival cruise ship's funnel while docked in grand turk.

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Chuck Linder of Delray Beach woke up Thursday morning onboard the Carnival Mardi Gras cruise ship and grabbed a cup of coffee.

He stepped outside, looked at the ship docked nearby and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“The smokestack was engulfed in a heavy, black smoke,” Linder said.

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Linder was looking at the Carnival Freedom.

Both ships were in port in Grand Turk.

“At first, I didn’t see the flames, and I thought, ‘Well, maybe they’re just doing something to clean out the engine,’” Linder said. “And then all of a sudden, the flames erupted.”

Linder said that’s when he became a little concerned as embers were flying everywhere.

He was worried about something hitting the ship he was on.

Video below: Footage of the fire from passenger on nearby boat

Around the country: National coverage from WPBF 25 News

But he says crew from both boats handled the situation exceptionally well, issuing a warning to all passengers.

“Get off the deck, and get away for your own safety,” Linder said. “Because they were concerned that the debris or embers would blow our way.”

In the end, the fire was contained just to the funnel on Freedom.

Video below: Footage of the fire from a nearby higher vantage point

Later in the day, Carnival released a statement saying, “Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk. All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore. We continue to assess the situation. Carnival Freedom left Port Canaveral on Monday on a five-day cruise.”

Linder said he’s been on 33 cruises, and there’s no way this incident will make him hesitant to get on the next cruise.

“We’ve had a great time,” he said. “It didn’t affect our trip at all, except for a little excitement for us.”

Video below: Footage of the cruise on fire from another vantage point

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Watch CBS News

Carnival cruise ship that set sail from Florida catches fire in Grand Turk

By Caitlin O'Kane

Updated on: May 26, 2022 / 5:39 PM EDT / CBS News

A Carnival cruise ship that set sail from Port Canaveral in Florida caught fire on Thursday. The Carnival Freedom ship was in Grand Turk on a five-day cruise when a fire inside the ships funnel started, according to a press release from Carnival.

Carnival says the fire was quickly extinguished by emergency response teams, and that all guests and crew are safe. The ship's guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore. Carnival is continuing to assess the situation. 

The @Carnival Freedom is on fire in Port at #GrandTurk #Carnival pic.twitter.com/7GgoWLG2Tc — Brian H (@Budman922) May 26, 2022

Social media posts show flames spewing from the funnel of the ship and black smoke billowing in the air. 

The ship had 2,504 guests and 972 crew onboard, Carnival said. Another ship, the Carnival Conquest, will travel from Miami to pick everyone up from Grand Turk on Saturday. They are expected to arrive in Port Canaveral on Monday.

The Conquest's next trip, scheduled to depart from Miami on Friday, has been canceled, as was the Freedom's next trip, scheduled to begin Saturday.

The Freedom ship will be taken to Freeport for a "repair to the funnel," Carnival said. All guests impacted by the changes in upcoming trips have been notified.

Last month, passengers on a Carnival cruise from Miami to Seattle were forced to quarantine after people onboard tested positive for COVID-19. Carnival didn't say how many of the approximately 2,100 passengers aboard were infected. Upon docking, all infected passengers were moved to area hotels for isolation.

While cruise ship fires are not common, they have occurred before. In 2016, more than 500 passengers and crew were evacuated from a burning ship about a mile off Puerto Rico's north coast. Many aboard the Caribbean Fantasy ship required medical care, though there were no reported fatalities.

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Caitlin O'Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces "The Uplift," CBS News' streaming show that focuses on good news.

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Watch: smoke billows from cruise ship that caught fire in grand turk.

Smoke was seen billowing from a Carnival cruise ship that caught fire in Grand Turk. The fire broke out in the ship’s funnel and crew members directed guests to stay inside the ship. It's not yet clear what caused the fire. Guests and crew on the ship are safe and were cleared to go ashore. May 26, 2022

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Carnival Cruise Passenger Captures Ship Fire on Video After Reports of Lightning Strike

The incident marks the second time in two years this particular ship has caught fire. It has caused the cancellation of two upcoming voyages

A Carnival cruise ship’s exhaust funnel caught fire on Saturday during a trip to the Bahamas, causing the company to cancel its next two voyages.

This is the second time in less than two years that the Carnival Freedom, based in Port Canaveral, Fla., has been impacted by a fire.

"Regrettably, the damage is more than we first thought, and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, resulting in the cancellation of the March 25 and March 29 cruises from Port Canaveral," Matt Lupoli, Carnival Cruise Line's senior manager of public relations, told Florida Today in a statement. "The funnel has been stabilized for the ship’s return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests, and then it will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs."

PEOPLE has reached out to Carnival, but did not immediately hear back.

MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK (2)

While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, Carnival noted in a post on X Saturday that eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike.

One of the cruise’s passengers, Heath Barnes, posted footage of the incident on Facebook Saturday afternoon.

In a statement to TMX, Barnes said it had been storming on and off and he was on one of the ship’s upper decks when he experienced “the loudest thunder and lightening [sic] I have ever heard.”

After he returned to his cabin for about 15 minutes, his nephew and two friends came to tell him the ship was on fire.

“I thought they were giving me a hard time but I got up and went out on the balcony and sure enough the flames and smoke was pouring out of the tail,” he continued, adding that he took the videos from his balcony before travelers were asked to stay indoors.

MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK

Carnival's brand ambassador John Heald addressed the incident on Facebook, acknowledging that those impacted by the cancellations “will be feeling very disappointed.” 

“And I want to add my apologies and my assurances that when you rebook using your full refund and your 100% future cruise credit, that the crew will be standing by to give you all the Fun you deserve,” he added.

In May 2022, the Carnival Freedom caught fire during a five-day cruise to Turks and Caicos.

At the time, Carnival Cruise Line verified that a fire broke out in the funnel of the ship while it was in Grand Turk.

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The company said its "emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished" the flames.

"All guests and crew are safe, and the ship's guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore," Carnival added.

The 948-foot Carnival Freedom, built in 2007, can hold just over 3,500 passengers, according to Cruise Mapper .

Related Articles

Carnival Ship Debuts New Funnel After Fire [PHOTOS]

Doug Parker

• March 30, 2024

Carnival Freedom has a new look following last Saturday’s fire. But the new design may look familiar if you aren’t new to cruising.

What happened to Carnival Freedom?

Last Saturday, due to high winds, the ship had to spend a day at sea instead of visiting its private destination, Princess Cay . While at sea, the ship encountered a severe thunderstorm.

As the ship was sailing northbound to Freeport, Bahamas, lightning struck the vessel, igniting fire to the funnel’s port side .

Along with the ship’s firefighting team, the captain brought the ship into an area of heavy rain bands to help extinguish the fire, which was successful.

The all-clear was given shortly after, and the ship proceeded to its next scheduled stop in Freeport and then onto Port Canaveral, Florida, on Monday to debark guests.

On Sunday, Carnival Cruise Line sent letters to booked guests advising them that the next two cruises were cancelled so the ship’s funnel could be repaired in Freeport, axing the March 25 and March 29 voyages.

The ship left Port Canaveral on Monday afternoon bound for Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, arriving early Tuesday to start work.

Heavy-duty machinery and shipyard workers were atop the funnel throughout the week, prepping for the smokestack redesign.

This process involved separating and rerouting the exhaust pipes, eventually removing the winged portion of the funnel, and recreating its 2022 look.

Carnival Freedom Ship Fire in 2022

In May 2022, Carnival Freedom’s smokestack caught fire while the ship was docked at the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

In October 2023, Carnival Freedom underwent a dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, to receive a new funnel after the 2022 blaze.

Carnival has not released how much of a financial hit they took for pulling the ship out of service for two sailings.

The ship is scheduled to return to service in early April.

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Passengers aboard carnival cruise ship that caught fire return to port canaveral, cruise line sends separate ship to bring passengers back to florida.

Mark Lehman , Reporter

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – Passengers of a Carnival cruise ship that caught fire last week returned Monday to Port Canaveral on a different ship.

The Carnival Freedom was docked Thursday in Grand Turk when flames erupted from the smokestack, according to the cruise line.

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No one was injured in the fire, which caused heavy damage to the ship’s funnel.

The Carnival Conquest was sent to retrieve the passengers aboard Freedom, which was evacuated after the fire.

Matt Lupoli, Carnival Cruise Line’s senior manager of public relations, released a statement on Thursday.

“Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk,” Lupoli said. “All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore. We continue to assess the situation. Carnival Freedom left Port Canaveral on Monday on a five-day cruise.”

Pictures posted last week on Twitter show smoke and flames coming from the right fin of Freedom’s smokestack.

The ship was due to return to Port Canaveral on Saturday.

On Friday, Carnival said the May 28, June 2 and June 6 departures of the Carnival Freedom have been canceled.

After bringing passengers to Port Canaveral, Carnival Conquest will return to Miami and its departure will be delayed by one day to May 31, the cruise line said.

Carnival is giving passengers a $100 onboard credit, extending the beverage and Wi-Fi packages for those who bought them, and giving everyone a 50% future cruise credit. The company says it will also waive additional port parking fees and reimburse for independent air expenses up to $200 per person.

HAPPENING NOW: The Carnival Conquest is docking at Port Canaveral. Onboard are thousands of passengers who were on the Carnival Freedom when the ship’s funnel caught fire. pic.twitter.com/yGWaKhijfA — Mark Lehman (@MarkLehman6) May 30, 2022

Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.

About the Author

Mark lehman.

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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