By ROB LARSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
While the majority of the stories surrounding the recent stranding of the Carnival Triumph cruise ship have centered around the horrific, Caroline Asher of Artesia, a passenger on the ship, is focusing on the positive, stating she is “more relieved than anything, because it could have been much worse.”
Problems for the Triumph began at roughly 5:30 a.m. last Sunday morning, when the ship’s aft engine room caught fire. While the fire was extinguished quickly, the ship lost its power and 3,141 passengers were left stranded roughly 150 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
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According to Asher, everyone on board was a bit panicked at first but soon calmed down once outside help began reaching the ship.
“A lot of people were scared at first, I think, because a lot was unknown at that time,” Asher said. “They were just letting their imaginations run wild. I definitely saw a lot of people running around with their life vests on. But after the next night, everybody started calming down, especially when one of the cruise ships came by and gave us some of their provisions and supplies and when the Coast Guard came.”
