Tribute to M/S Windsong

On December 1, 2002, Carnival Corporation's subsidiary, Windstar Cruises, experienced a fire onboard its vessel, Wind Song, ten miles off the coast of Tahaa, French Polynesia. The French Navy put out the fire and towed the ship to Papeete, where examination showed extensive damage to engineering spaces, although the passenger areas were mostly intact. Subsequently the Navy demanded compensation for its services, and French Polynesian government seized the Wind Song. However, the Carnival Corporation (owner of Windstar Cruises at the time) was unwilling to pay the costs involved, and even scrapping was uneconomical, because of the ship's small size and remoteness from shipbreakersThe extent of the damage to the ship is significant and, based on initial observations, it appears to be a total loss. Carnival denied access to the vessel by any investigators other than the corporation's own and claimed that the cause of the fire was unknown. The vessel is fully insured. Management believes that there will be no material impact on Carnival Corporation's fiscal 2003 earnings. On January 22, with the agreement of Carnival, the President of the Territorial Government of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, ordered the scuttling of the Wind Song. Film archives from Rick Croft and William Betaille, extra picture from alphayop. Editing William Betaille

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• carnival cruise line
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