MONTEGO BAY, St James – One passenger died and 11 others were injured yesterday when an early morning fire damaged a section of Princess Cruise Line’s Star Princess as it got within 50 miles of this resort city on Jamaica’s northwest coast.

Police named the dead man as Richard Liffidge, 75, of a Georgia, USA address. His wife, whose name the Observer was unable to ascertain, is among three persons admitted in hospital, resulting from the incident.

Liffidge reportedly died of a cardiac arrest shortly after the vessel, which was carrying 2,690 passengers and 1,123 crew, caught fire. Two people suffered significant smoke inhalation and nine others had “minor complications from smoke inhalation”, the Observer learnt.

None of the crew members were injured.

Officials said the fire broke out at about 3:10 am on a balcony and, aided by strong early morning winds, spread rapidly to adjacent cabins.

The blaze, which affected passenger decks nine through 12, reportedly damaged 150 cabins before it was extinguished by crew members. More than 100 other cabins were damaged by water used to assist in extinguishing the fire.

An unconfirmed report said that a lighted cigarette left unattended on the balcony of the vessel caused the fire.

Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guards, a pilot boat and the Marine Police escorted the ship safely from the high waters to the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Pier at about 9:45 am.

The ship was on a week-long cruise, sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 19 on a Caribbean itinerary with ports of call at Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and Montego Bay.

Last night, junior tourism minister Wykeham McNeil told reporters at a press conference in Montego Bay that 550 passengers from the ship are being accommodated in hotels in the resort areas of Negril and Montego Bay.

Most of the other passengers, he said, had disembarked the ship and participated in their scheduled activities.

According to McNeil, representatives from the cruise line are making arrangements for the passengers to be flown back to Fort Lauderdale within the next 48 hours.

The junior tourism minister also used the opportunity to commend the Montego Bay community for their assistance in the wake of the tragedy.

“There was a tremendous response from the Montego Bay community, who turned out to render assistance,” McNeil said. “Specifically, I would like to congratulate the JHTA (Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association) and its members, who have worked very closely with the cruise liner to. accommodate the guests who were dislocated.”

Vice-president in charge of operations in the Caribbean for Princess Cruises, Steve Nielsen, said a probe of the incident has commenced.

“A team from Princess Cruises is now in the island and they are currently on board conducting the investigation,” he said. “Representatives from Bermuda and the US Coast Guard are arriving tonight (Thursday) to participate in the investigation to determine the cause and to decide where the ship will undergo repairs.”

Princess Cruises operates 14 ships and says it carries more than a million passengers each year to destinations around the world. The company is a part of the US-based Carnival Corporation, one of the world’s largest vacation companies.

The Star Princess has been making weekly calls on Montego Bay for more than two years.

Yesterday, as the vessel was being guided to the pier, scores of curious onlookers gathered outside the terminal building to get a peek at it. Several persons who had come to meet crew members and passengers waited anxiously.

Among them were Ellen Edwards and her husband, who had travelled from Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth to meet their son, Matthew and his wife Yuki.

The couple had not been to Jamaica for more than five years and was looking forward to meeting their parents and having some Jamaican food.

“They spoke to us while they were in Grand Cayman yesterday (Wednesday) and they were extremely happy knowing that they were coming to Jamaica, and so they asked me to prepare some ackee and saltfish and roast yam,” Ellen Edwards said.

Looking somewhat worried, Mrs Edwards told the Observer that she was unaware of the fire until she and her husband arrived at the pier shortly after 8:00 am.

“I didn’t know of the fire until I got here and saw all those police vehicles, policemen and other officials,” she said. “It was after that I was told that there was an emergency.”

After waiting for more that four hours, her son and his wife arrived in the terminal building, reporting that they were not hurt.

Several other passengers who also disembarked the vessel were in high spirits and commended the crew and the local emergency teams for their assistance during the ordeal.

One passenger told the Observer how she was made aware that the vessel was on fire.

“Shortly after 3:00 am I heard the alarm on the ship and we were told that there was an emergency and we had to go to the emergency station. So we knew exactly what that meant, so we took our life jackets and went to that area,” she said. “There were hundreds of people there as well; everyone was assigned their area based on their cabin.

“We never really had to evacuate the ship because we went to an area designated for this kind of emergency and the fire was on another side, so we didn’t have to get off the ship at any point.”

The crew, she said, were very calm. “The captain and deputy told us that our safety was their highest priority.”

Tourism officials said the fire did not “significantly” impact negatively on the local economy, which relies heavily on the cruise industry.