‘Why is our tail on fire’: Carnival Freedom ship catches fire after possible lightning strike

Smoke spewed from the funnel of the Carnival Freedom on Saturday after what passengers said was a lightning strike.

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The cruise ship, which sails from Port Canaveral, Florida, caught fire on Saturday afternoon, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a news release obtained by CNN.

The fire was seen coming from the port side exhaust funnel when the ship was about 20 miles from Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. It was on the way to Freeport on Grand Bahama Island.

In a video shared to CNN, the person recording can be heard asking, “Why is our tail on fire?”

The ship’s fire response team was able to put out the flames. At the same time, the captain turned the ship into heavy rain to allow the storm to help extinguish the blaze, which was confined to the funnel, USA Today reported.

Within two hours, it was put out. No guests were hurt. Two firefighting crew members, however, had to be treated for minor smoke inhalation.

Passengers were informed by the ship’s captain about the incident, who told everyone — except for essential safety crew members — to stay away from balconies and open decks, USA Today reported.

Part of the exhaust funnel fell onto deck 10, the company said. But despite the damage and fire, passengers were able to attend their dinner as planned on Saturday.

The ship was examined after it arrived in Freeport, and it was found that the damage was more extensive than originally thought. The Freedom was scheduled to leave Port Canaveral on Monday, but that trip and the one that was to take place on March 29 have both been canceled to allow for “immediate repair to stabilize the funnel” the company said, according to WFTV. The ship will return to Freeport for repairs on Monday.

Those scheduled to sail on the canceled cruises will get full refunds and credits for future travel.

Passengers said that it might have been a lightning strike that caused the fire, but that has not been confirmed by the company.

The Carnival Freedom has a double occupancy of 3,754 and 1,150 crewmembers. It started sailing in 2007 and it’s country of registry is listed as Panama.

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