Costa Allegra
A handout photograph shows the cruise liner Costa Allegra drifting in the Indian Ocean after an engine room fire February 27, 2012. The Costa Allegra, owned by the same company as the capsized Costa Concordia, was being towed by a French fishing ship on February 28, 2012 to Desroches Island, about 230 km (145 miles) southwest of Mahe, the main island in the Seychelles. Reuters

Just one month after Costa Concordia smashed into a reef and capsized, the Italian cruise company, Costa Crociere SpA faces a new emergency with Cruise Line Allegra stranded without power in pirate infested waters.

The Italian ship was crippled in the middle of the Indian Ocean, after a fire broke out in the cruise line's generator room on Monday.

The shipboard fire-extinguishing system and emergency procedures were activated promptly and special fire-fighting squads extinguished the fire, the company said in a statement.

With 1,000 on board, the ship has been towed in the ocean without power. Cruise Officials told the Associated Press that passengers would be brought to the main Seychelles island of Mahe by Thursday.The cruise ship company has said that food, satellite phone and VHF radios would be brought to the ship by helicopter.

Passengers are being held in communal rooms and are roaming on the decks, where they will likely be sleeping in the next few days, instead of in their Cabin's, the Associated Press Reported.

Italian Coast Guard officials said emergency generators were keeping the ship's control room illuminated, according to ABC News.

Threat of Pirates

One of the greatest concerns regarding Allegra's current location is the threat of piracy. Ships in the region-- off the coast of Tanzania-- have been attacked by Somali pirates.

Costa Crociere SpA said Allegra, which currently holds 636 passengers and 413 crew members also has a team of nine anti-pirate guards on board.

If pirates attack, the armed guards on board will respond. But as far as I am aware, no pirates have been sighted in the area, said Seychelles presidential spokeswoman Srdjana Janosevic, the Miami Herald reported.

The Allegra, a 20-year-old cruise ship, left Madagascar on Saturday and was headed towards Port Victoria before the fire broke out on board on Monday

The incident is the second this year for the Italian company whose Costa Concordia hit rocks near Giglio in January, with 4,200 passengers on board. The death toll has hit 25, with seven people still missing, according to the Italian Civil Protection Agency.

Captain Francesco Schettino and another Costa Concordia are being investigated by prosecutors and have been placed under house arrest for allegedly causing the shipwreck. If found guilty they could face charges of manslaughter, and abandonment of ship before the evacuation was completed.

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