Italian ship carrying 1,000 adrift after fire

The Seychelles Coast Guard said that a French vessel has an Italian cruise ship adrift in the Indian Ocean and is towing it to an island. The coast guard said Tuesday that authorities are making arrangements for the evacuation of those onboard to the island of Descroches and then their transfer to Seychelles’ main island. The Italian cruise liner Costa Allegra, carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew members, began drifting without power on Monday after a fire in its generator room. Officials say the blaze, which was extinguished, caused no injuries. Two tug boats from Seychelles are expected to reach the cruise ship Tuesday afternoon and will it tow it back under military escort. Somali pirates are active in the region but have not been sighted near the ship. Monday’s fire on the Costa Allegra immediately raised fears, since it occurred only six weeks after one of its sister ships, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing and presumed dead. Both ships are operated by Costa Crociere SpA, which is owned by the Florida-based Carnival Corp. The Costa Allegra is adrift “and being pushed by the current. It is stable and upright,” Giorgio Moretti, the director of nautical operations for Costa Crociere SpA, told reporters in a conference call late Monday from company headquarters in Genoa, Italy. No one was injured in the fire in the generator room and the cause of the fire was under investigation, Moretti said. The fire knocked out power to the ship’s engines as well as to its lights and air conditioning.