Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Fire

CNN) -- A voice on the intercom woke Danielle Miller and told her to put on her life jacket and run to a deck. Not knowing what the emergency was, she nervously woke up her roommate and did just that.
Though it never lost power, the ship was diverted to Freeport in the Bahamas, and the fire, which began in a mooring area, was extinguished just before 5 a.m., the company said.
The ship's 2,224 guests and 796 crew members initially were headed to CocoCay, Bahamas, but the ship was redirected to Freeport for evaluation, Royal Caribbean said.

2 Dead 1 injured after Boat Hits Dock in St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -
Two men are dead and a woman is in critical condition after a boat hit a dock in St. Augustine on Sunday night.
The vessel was traveling south of the Bridge of Lions about 10 p.m. when it hit the dock connected to a home in the Pelican Reef neighborhood.
All three passengers were ejected into the water. Warren Hall and and Franklin Babb (pictured below on right), both 52, died in the crash. Alicia Babb (pictured below on left), 50, was critically injured.
Another boater was able to rescue Alicia Babb from the water, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Hall and Babb were recovered in the vicinity of the collision.
The three were returning to the Vilano Boat Ramp after a day of boating, officials said.
Alicia and Franklin Babb "He was my dad. I loved everything about him, everything," Frank Babb said Monday at the site of the crash. "He loved to fish. I wish he got to do more of it."
Pictured, right:
Alicia and Franklin Babb
"He loved this place and he's very well-known around town and loved helping people," said Danielle Rienks, Franklin Babb's daughter. "He would just break his back for people, and you couldn't ask for a better person, you really couldn't."
"He was an amazing father. He raised his children right by himself," added Lynn Rowland, Franklin Babb's sister. "He did a good job, he was a good man, he helped his friends, he lived life."
Babb, his wife, Alicia, and their friend Hall, who went by Chris, were out fishing Sunday and were on their way back.
"We certainly heard and felt the impact of him hitting the dock," said Jack Williams, who lives in Pelican Reef two doors down from the dock the 16-foot motorboat ran into. "The boat actually flew up over the dock and then dumped them all into the water. The fisherman saved the lady's life, there's no question about that."
That nearby fisherman saw the crash, pulled up his anchor, drove over and saved Alicia Babb.
Franklin Babb and their friend Hall, both born on the same day, didn't make it.
Williams ran out to his dock and saw a sneaker floating in the water.
"The next thing I knew, almost underneath my dock there was a body, a man's body in the water that was floating and coming by fairly fast," he said.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Damaged Carnival Ship Triumph Breaks Away From Alabama Dock

Update: The Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing shipyard employee after a cruise ship broke loose from a pier on the Mobile River, Wednesday.
Coast Guard and Mobile Police and Sheriff's Office search-and-rescue crews searched for approximately 15 hours with more than 15 boats and aircraft in an effort to locate the missing BAE Systems employee.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Carnival Cruise Ship Stranded Gulf of Mexico

Passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a weekend engine fire have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, but also a new destination: Mobile, Ala.


Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement Monday that the Carnival Triumph had drifted so far north of its original position that it will be towed to the southern U.S. port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico.



Cahill said strong Gulf currents caused the Triumph to drift about 90 miles north of its original position off the Yucatan Peninsula.



Cahill's statement said the ship should arrive in Mobile on Thursday and that the change will allow for less complicated re-entry for passengers without passports.



CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg said on "CBS This Morning" that the waste management system was powered by electricity, and with electricity out on the ship, there is a danger of it turning into "a floating biohazard" before it reaches Alabama.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Three rescued from boat in St. Johns County

ST. JOHNS COUNTY. Fla. -- St. Johns County Fire Rescue saved three people after a boating accident Tuesday afternoon.
Fire officials say the accident happened around 3:30 p.m. on the shoals just north of the Matanzas inlet.
St. Johns County responded and found an approximately 16-foot fishing boat unmanned in the surf, and a second fishing boat helping two people from the water and one from the sandbar.
According to a news release, one of the victims was having a heart attack and a paramedic/rescue swimmer performed CPR. That patient was taken to Flagler Hospital in critical condition. The boat was later towed and secured by SJCFR marine rescue to a dock at Fort Matanzas.
No one else was injured and all three were wearing personal floation devices, according to SJCFR.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is investigating the incident.