MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italian cruise lands passengers following energy blackout

Cruise Costa Romantica anchored in Punta del Este (Picture El Pais)

The Italian flagged cruise vessel Costa Romantica with 1.400 passengers that was anchored seven miles southwest of the Uruguayan coast after suffering a power blackout was heading Thursday evening for Punta del Este to disembark travellers who will continue their trip to Argentina by land and ferry.

According to a release from the operator Costa Cruises "after a long technical repair job the vessel managed to recover full electrical power thus re-establishing basic services including propulsion". The Costa Romantica which left Rio do Janerio on Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Buenos Aires Thursday morning suffered a minor blaze Wednesday night and had to anchor off the Uruguayan coast. Although emergency equipment restored energy ten minutes later a team of Uruguayan experts was brought in to assess the extent of the damage, and finally it was decided to land all passengers at the nearest port, Punta del Este, Uruguay's main seaside resort and a common call for cruise vessels. Costa Cruises said that passengers at no time were exposed to any risks and received full attention all the time as were kept informed of the situation. The company said it would reimburse the affected passengers the equivalent of two days of cruising plus a 20% credit on the price of any future trips they should decided to contract. Costa Romantica was built in 1993 at the Fincatieri yards in Venice and refurbished ten years later. According to the technical data provided by the Costa Cruises, the vessel has 678 cabins, 1.697 beds and a crew of 596. The 220 meters long vessel had thirteen decks and a cruising speed of 18.5 knots. Costa Cruises is Italy's largest tourism group and Europe's number one cruise company having carried last year 1.200.000 cruise guests, a record for the European industry.