Devon Evans, Gleaner Writer

RUNAWAY BAY, St Ann:

There was what appeared to be a fire on board the cruise ship The Grand Princess, off the coast of Runaway Bay, St Ann, yesterday afternoon.

Residents in the area reported that shortly after 4:20 p.m., they saw the cruise ship come to a halt and thick black smoke billowing from the vessel. This drew the attention of scores of other residents who raised an alarm that the ship was on fire.

The incident happened shortly after The Grand Princess left the Ocho Rios port as part of its regular fortnightly itinerary with reportedly more than 1,500 passengers and crew on-board. The vessel was heading in a westerly direction. On reaching an area off the coast of Salem, Runaway Bay, the vessel came to a halt for about 25 minutes.

Covered in smoke

Some eyewitnesses said at one stage almost the entire vessel was covered in smoke. After the smoke died down the ship appeared to be turning back towards the Ocho Rios area. It then changed course and headed in a northerly direction and after sailing some miles off the coast it again came to a halt and was docked at that location up to press time last night.

The Navigator of the Seas, which also visited Ocho Rios yesterday, was heading westerly yesterday afternoon and stopped briefly near the Grand Princess before continuing on its way. A small vessel which looked like a coastguard boat was in the area close to The Grand Princess for a long while before heading out to sea.