OCHO RIOS, St Ann - There were conflicting reports last night about a fire that supposedly broke out on the cruise ship Grand Princess, shortly after it left port in this Jamaican resort town.

It was initially reported that an oven had caught fire. However, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) later reported that thick, black smoke was let off from the engine room while crew members were checking on a minor problem.

"It was an oven fire, the staff captain said, but they're okay," Ocho Rios pier manager, Dennis Richards, told the Observer last night.

Richards said he had spoken with the staff captain after persons on land saw thick, dark smoke rising from the vessel a few miles off the coast of Runaway Bay, shortly after the vessel left Ocho Rios.

Later, however, personnel from the JDF Coast Guard reported that there was no fire on board the ship. "There was no fire," the coast guard spokesman said. "The captain said they were checking some minor problems in the engine room and that let off some thick, dark smoke but there was no fire," the spokesman said.

The vessel, which had initially stopped, later resumed its journey to the Cayman Islands, at a reduced pace.
The Grand Princess, with a capacity of 3,200, had left Ocho Rios after its weekly visit to that destination.
It was one of two vessels in port yesterday, the other being Navigator of the Seas.

About three miles off the coast of Runaway Bay persons in St Ann reported seeing smoke rising from the vessel.
With the St Ann fire boat said to be out of service, firefighters from the Ocho Rios, Brown's Town and Falmouth fire stations were rushed out to sea by a coast guard vessel from the Discovery Bay station.

However, according to the coast guard, there was no need for alarm.

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