A stricken luxury cruise ship with more than a thousand people on board arrives at a Malaysian port on Borneo Sunday after spending more than a day in waters prowled by pirates.
Escorted by a Malaysian patrol vessel, the Azamara Quest dropped anchor. Five crew members who suffered from smoke inhalation were rushed to the hospital after fire broke out in the ship's engine room Friday. Only one man was hospitalized.
Most of the ship's passengers were transferred to hotels.
Some praised the crew.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED CRUISE PASSENGER FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDS IN THE UNITED STATES, SAYING:
"I cannot say enough about the crew and the captain and all the people and how they took care of us. They did double duty, they worked so hard without sleep. Things happen. But they made the best of it for us, and the best thing we can say is how wonderful the crew was."
Others say they never felt threatened.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) CRUISE PASSENGER DOROTHY WOODS FROM VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, SAYING:
"I understand that there's some pirates in the area. But we had, as of last night, we had the Philippine coast guard beside us. And I'm sure that we felt very secure then."
This is the latest in a string of accidents that has focused global attention on the safety of modern cruise ships.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
