Fire destroys funnel on Carnival cruise ship; sailings canceled

Two additional sailings have been canceled following a fire that caused structural damage to the funnel on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Freedom on May 26.

There were no injuries, but the incident prompted the line to cut the ship's last voyage short and cancel its May 28 departure. It has now canceled the subsequent June 2 and June 6 departures also.

Passengers were transferred to Carnival Conquest for their return home, allowing Carnival Freedom to sail to Freeport, Bahamas, where it is now docked for repairs. The move necessitated the cancellation of Carnival Conquest's May 27 sailing, too.

A statement from Carnival said that Carnival Freedom remained in Grand Turk, where the ship was docked when the fire broke out, until Carnival Conquest arrived on May 28. Carnival Freedom served as a floating hotel for the 2,504 passengers on its last cruise until they could be moved to Carnival Conquest, which then transported them back to Port Canaveral, their original port of disembarkation.

They reached Port Canaveral on May 30, two days later than previously scheduled.

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The ship sailed to Freeport, Bahamas, after passengers disembarked; it is currently undergoing repairs there.

After disembarking passengers at Port Canaveral on May 30, it returned to its Miami homeport, where it began its May 30 itinerary on May 31, one day later than scheduled.

Several passengers, including Jim Edgar from Jacksonville, took to social media to share photos and videos of the incident.

"#carnivalfreedom we have a problem!" he posted early Thursday on Instagram.

In a statement, Carnival said the fire broke out in the ship's funnel — the iconic "whale tail" structure where ships emit exhaust — while the vessel was docked at Grand Turk, a port the line developed specifically for use by its passengers.

"All guests and crew are safe, and the ship's guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore," the statement said. "We continue to assess the situation."

There has been no official word yet on what caused the blaze. The vessel was on a five-day sailing from Port Canaveral that departed on May 23.

Featured photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line.