THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230581
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 26 lines
The Portsmouth-based Coast Guard cutter Forward is scheduled to return home at 9:30 a.m. today after a six-week deployment to the Caribbean that included responding to a fire on board a cruise liner and repatriating 12 Haitian nationals.
The 270-foot ship received an emergency call from the Miami-based cruise liner Celebration earlier this week which had a disabling electrical fire in its engine room. The ship was dead in the water with more than 2,000 people aboard about 35 miles east of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.
Although the Celebration is more than 25 times the cutter's displacement, the Forward was able to tow the drifting ship out of danger and away from the coast.
The tow was a milestone for the Coast Guard, which has rarely attempted to tow such a large vessel with its medium endurance cutters. by CNB