3 Dead on a Cruise Ship in LA?

[Ships R Great]

Due to methane gas, according to Fox News. 7 more injured. Anybody know any more?

[Ships R Great]

Whoops. Can answer my own question. Just googled it.

 

:Posted (Miami Herald) on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005

 

 

 

M O R E N E W S F R O M

• Transportation

• Boat

• Fire

 

 

 

 

Methane leak kills three cruise workers

 

TIM MOLLOY

 

Associated Press

 

 

LOS ANGELES - Three members of a cruise ship crew were killed by toxic sewer gas Friday as they repaired a waste pipe aboard the ship that had just returned to the Port of Los Angeles.

 

No passengers were injured, but 19 other crew members from Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas were examined for possible exposure to the toxic gas, authorities said.

 

Passengers were leaving the ship at the time of the incident, the company said.

 

Officials first identified the gas as methane but later determined it was hydrogen sulfide, which occurs in sewage, said Barbara Yu, a supervising hazardous-materials specialist for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

 

The three crew members probably died within 30 seconds of encountering the gas, Yu said.

 

"It deadens your sense of smell so you don't even smell it," she said.

 

The incident occurred after the ship returned from a cruise with about 2,500 passengers and 850 crew members, said city Fire Department Battalion Chief Lou Roupoli. The ship makes regular trips down Mexico's Pacific coast.

 

Royal Caribbean said crew members were replacing a section of pipe connected to the ship's sewage system. The broken line expelled about five gallons of raw sewage and an unknown amount of gas in a propeller shaft tunnel, Roupoli said.

 

Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Tony Migliorini said the repair crew could have worn special masks but they usually are not required for such operations.

 

Fire officials said the repair was being done in an isolated, enclosed space and that most of those who later reported feelings nauseated had not been in the space but decided that they wanted to be checked out.

 

The ship, which has primarily Norwegian officers, has crew members from all over the world.

 

Royal Caribbean said the Coast Guard and local authorities were immediately notified and that the cruise line "will fully assist in the investigation of the incident."

 

Passenger Yvonne Powers of Sacramento said she was about to disembark with her daughter when she saw men in hazardous-materials protective gear going downstairs.

 

"Nobody said anything to us," Powers said.

 

Later, after they had left the ship, there was a public address announcement that there had been a mishap and that "we've got it under control," she said.

 

The 14-year-old Monarch of the Seas is based in Los Angeles harbor and registered in the Bahamas. The ship had been scheduled to depart later Friday on a cruise to the Mexican port of Ensenada. It wasn't immediately clear if it would leave as planned."