A Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 passengers and crew will be towed to port after a weekend engine fire left it dead in the water, a cruise line official said. A cutter is expected to arrive on the scene Monday morning to assist, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Carnival Triumph was in waters off the Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Texas, when the fire occurred Sunday morning, said Astevia Gonzalez from the Carnival Cruises family support team. The ship's automatic fire extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the blaze, and no injuries were reported. The fire still left the ship with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members without propulsion, drifting about 140 miles off the Mexican coast, the cruise line said in a statement quoted by CNN. "The ship's technical crew has determined the vessel will need to be towed to port," Carnival said around 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday. "A tugboat is en route to the ship's location and will tow the vessel to Progreso, Mexico, which is the closest port." According to Gonzalez, the ship is expected to arrive in port Wednesday.
