Blast reported aboard small cruise ship; crew member taken to hospital

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — One person was injured and passengers were evacuated Wednesday after an explosion in the engine room of a small cruise ship docked in Maine’s Portland Harbor, officials said.

The injured person, a member of the crew, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries while 128 passengers were removed from the ship, said Sean Donaghue, spokesperson for the Portland Fire Department. The crew member’s condition wasn’t known.

American Queen Voyages’ Ocean Navigator, a 286-foot long ship with a capacity of 202 people, had just docked at Ocean Gateway Terminal when the blast happened around 7:25 a.m. Wednesday, officials said.

A generator in the engine caught fire, officials said. Portland firefighters and the cruise ship’s crew quickly extinguished the blaze. The boat was being ventilated to remove the smoke.

The U.S. Coast Guard is working to determine if the ship is safe for passengers to continue their voyage. The ship, built in 2001 and refurbished in 2019, was scheduled to spend the night in Portland before departing Thursday.