A fire broke out on the port side of Carnival Freedom’s exhaust funnel while sailing in the Bahamas. The blaze was first reported Saturday afternoon while the ship was about 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas. The fire ship reportedly caught fire during stormy conditions in the Bahamas.

The vessel had cancelled its call to Princess Cay due to weather conditions. Passengers onboard also witnessed a possible lightning strike that caused the fire to start. No injuries have been reported.

This comes after the vessel’s funnel caught fire in 2022, requiring the ship to cancel sailings and undergo a dry dock.

Carnival reported the flames were extinguished two hours after it began, with damage confined to the funnel, where part of the structure collapsed onto Deck 10.

Carnival Cruise Line in a statement said, “The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames.”

Videos circulating online showed the Carnival’s whale-tail funnel on fire.

Carnival Freedom on fire AGAIN!! #Carnival #CarnivalFreedom pic.twitter.com/CG86pUNPZy
— BREEZE☁️ (@breezebreeze_) March 23, 2024

The cruise line stated, “Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being investigated but cannot yet be confirmed.”

The Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that the March 25 voyage from Port Canaveral will not be impacted. "Carnival does not expect any impact to the next Carnival Freedom voyage scheduled to depart from Port Canaveral on Monday, March 25," it said on X.

Carnival Cruise Funnel In Bahamas Catches Fire After Possible Lightning Strike | VIDEO Emerges

In 2022, the same ship had experienced a funnel fire, requiring the ship to cancel sailings and undergo a dry dock

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