Cruise Liner with 1,001 on Board Adrift After Blaze

In another tragedy involving cruise ships, a luxury cruise liner with 1,001 people on board has been adrift on the seas off Malaysia since Friday afternoon due to a fire in one of the engine rooms.

Up to 60 Britons are reportedly on the luxury liner, Azamara Quest, and the fire in the engine room has been extinguished.

Though no major injuries to the guests were reported, five crew members of the ship suffered the effects of smoke inhalation. The condition of one crew member required his being taken to hospital, according to the company.

Engineers onboard Azamara Quest are currently working to restore the propulsion to the ship, the company stated on its website.

"Once they have restored the ship's propulsion, Azamara Quest will sail directly to Sandakan (Sabah), Malaysia. When propulsion has been restored to the ship, we will be able to provide an estimated time of arrival," said the statement.

The ship is currently running on emergency power restored in one of the engine rooms and the air conditioning, refrigeration, food preparation and running water on board the ship are functioning well, read the statement.

Azamara Quest was on a 17-night sailing from Hong Kong that started on Monday, 26 March, and was meant to conclude in Singapore on Thursday, 12 April.

The rest of the cruise stands cancelled because of the fire and the updates on travel will be made available on its website on 2 April.

The incident is reminiscent of Costa Allegra, which was left afloat in the Indian Ocean for three days due to a fire in the generator room.

Passengers had to survive on helicopter supplies till the stricken ship was taken to Seychelles' main port in Victoria.

Earlier, a Costa Concordia cruise liner ran into a reef and capsised off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January leaving several people dead and many others missing.