Bahamas News
Carnival Freedom under repair at Grand Bahama Shipyard after exhaust destroyed in fire
By Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
#TheBahamas, June 6, 2022 – Carnival Freedom is currently undergoing 10-days of repair work at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, following a gutting fire which broke out as the ship berthed in Grand Turk on May 26.
The iconic exhaust funnel was badly burned; the starboard side of the tail destroyed and rendered the cruise vessel inoperable.
Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk. The cruise line company also said: “Carnival apologized to all those guests who are
The 2,504 passengers who were meant to spend some hours in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands remained there two extra days until they were fetched by the Carnival Conquest.
“All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore,” informed Carnival in another statement.
It is reported that in the wee hours of May 30, the passengers arrived back at Port Canaveral and will be compensated for their voyage which ended up giving them less destinations and keeping them at sea longer than was planned.
Carnival Cruise Line stated, “We are grateful to our guests for their support as our team worked this weekend to bring them back to Port Canaveral on Carnival Conquest, and we remain proud of our Carnival Freedom crew who handled the situation on the ship effectively and according to safety protocols.”
The ‘Freedom’ will be out of commission until early June and its May 28, June 2 and June 6 departures have been cancelled to facilitate the repairs.
It is reported that repairs at the Grand Bahama Shipyard will be complete by June 10.
For now, the June 11 sailing is still scheduled to go ahead as planned. Guests booked on canceled cruises will receive a full refund on all monies paid and a 100% future cruise credit.