Onboard fire cripples Costa cruise ship

A liner owned by the same company as the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off Italy last month, sent out a distress signal in the Indian Ocean on Monday after a fire in the engine room left it without power. Costa Cruises said the fire on the Costa Allegra was quickly extinguished. "There were no injuries or casualties," the company said in a statement. At least 25 people died when the Costa Concordia ran aground off the island of Giglio on Jan. 13. Its captain was arrested and several other officials were placed under investigation. The Costa Allegra, with 636 passengers and 413 crew on board, was sailing some 200 miles southwest of the Seychelles, the company said. Crew were working to "restore functionality" to the ship and tugs and other support vessels were on their way to offer assistance, Costa Cruises said. On Monday, Italian coast guard officials dispatched cargo ships near the Costa Allegra to help. The Seychelles coast guard and air wing mobilized, and an aircraft was flying over the ship late Monday evening, said Seychelles presidential spokeswoman Srdjana Janosevic. The island's port authority sent two tugs to the stricken ship. "And there are fishing vessels in the vicinity, large ones, that are going to provide support as well," Janosevic said. "They have assistance coming to them.'" The Allegra had left northern Madagascar, off Africa's southeast coast, on Saturday and was cruising toward the port of Victoria, Seychelles' capital, when the fire erupted. Costa said the Allegra had been due in Victoria on Tuesday. The Allegra was built in Italian shipyards in 1992, is 615-feet long, has eight passenger decks and 399 cabins.