CNN Exclusive: Carnival knew of fire danger before cruise, documents show

Bettina Rodriguez and her daughter Isabel had planned their cruise for half a year. They would sail on the Carnival Triumph cruise ship and celebrate Isabel’s birthday.

It was the trip of a lifetime. That is, until they awoke to a fire alarm, smoke in their hallway and then days and days of misery. Human waste was actually piling up in bags just outside their door.

“Just on our deck alone, there were the biohazard bags lined up across the floor,” Bettina Rodriguez said. “We’re talking about raw sewage at just the end of our deck alone. It was repulsive.”

It was a nightmare, Rodriguez said. Now the nightmare has been made worse, she said, because of company documents that have just come to light. The cruise line’s own reports, inspections and maintenance records detail a problem that had been developing on the Triumph more than a year before Rodriguez and her daughter were on board.

Exclusive documents obtained by CNN now reveal the fiasco on the Triumph as a disaster waiting to happen.

Photos: Cruise ship mishaps

Schraps/ullstein bild/Getty Images/FILE

A fire broke out in one of two engine rooms on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas during an October sailing that departed out of Venice. The fire was contained and extinguished. Twenty-one people were treated for smoke inhalation.

Photos: Cruise ship mishaps

Carnival Cruise Lines.

Carnival's Liberty cruise ship had an engine fire on Monday, September 7, during a scheduled port call in St. Thomas. Passengers were flown home from the island, cutting their seven-day cruise short. No one was hurt, and the company said passengers will be refunded their cruise fees.

Photos: Cruise ship mishaps

Akil Simmons/The Royal Gazette photo via AP

The cruise ship Norwegian Dawn sits aground near Bermuda's North Channel on Tuesday, May 19. "Norwegian Dawn temporarily lost power as the ship was departing King's Wharf, Bermuda. The ship's propulsion was affected and, at which time, the vessel made contact with the channel bed. All guests and crew are safe," spokeswoman Vanessa Picariello said.

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John Hayes/Celebrity Cruises/AP

Since the start of 2015, the CDC has recorded five outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness aboard cruise ships, including the latest outbreak in April on the Celebrity Infinity.

Photos: Cruise ship mishaps

XUE LIQIANG/Xinhua/Landov

On a March 30-April 14 sailing, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Legend of the Seas reported more than 115 sick passengers and crew.

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GARY CAMERON/Reuters/LANDOV/FILE

In January, more than 200 passengers and crew became ill with norovirus on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas.

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Andrea Pattaro/Getty Images/file

During a fall 2014 sailing, 158 passengers and 14 crew members became ill with norovirus on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess. The ship's passengers were also sickened during an April 2014 sailing.

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U.S. COAST GUARD/Reuters/Landov

A federal judge ruled Carnival Cruise Lines liable and responsible for the engine fire that left the ill-fated Triumph cruise adrift in the Gulf of Mexico in February 2013. More than 4,200 passengers endured power outages, overflowing toilets and food shortages.

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Andy Newman/Princess Cruises/AP

A norovirus outbreak aboard Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess sickened 181 passengers and 11 crew members during a late January 2014 sailing.

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ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images/File

Nearly 700 crew and passengers fell ill aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas in January 2014. It is the highest number of sick people reported on any cruise ship in two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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from silversea.com

In 2013, the Silver Shadow, run by Silversea Cruises, failed a CDC health inspection over concerns about hiding food in crew cabins.

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courtesy adam fine

On Memorial Day 2013, a fire aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cut short a seven-day cruise to Port Canaveral, Florida, and the Bahamas. The ship changed its course and sailed under its own power to Freeport in the Bahamas.

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Amy Sussman/Getty Images/FILE

The Carnival Dream, shown here at its North American debut in November 2009, lost power in March 2013, and some of its toilets stopped working temporarily. For a time, no one was allowed to get off the vessel, docked at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in the eastern Caribbean.

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MARCOS BRINDICCI/Reuters/Landov/FILE

During a surprise visit in August 2012, CDC inspectors found multiple sanitation violations on the Holland America ship ms Veendam (shown here in March 2012). The CDC found enough violations, including brown liquid dripping on clean dishes and a fly on the buffet, to give the Veendam a failing grade.

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A fire in the Carnival Splendor engine room in November 2010 crippled the cruise ship, stranding passengers off the coast of Mexico for several days without air conditioning or hot showers.

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Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Chase Maclaskey

Moments from aboard the ship —

"Mike watching the first tugboat setting up to pull us," writes Chase Maclaskey on Instagram. The 4,229 passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Triumph have been stuck on the ship since fire disabled the vessel on Sunday, February 10. Click through to see passengers' photos from on board.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Chase Maclaskey

Moments from aboard the ship —

"One of two tugboats pulling us through the channel to Mobile, Alabama, along with a channel guide boat," writes Maclaskey. The ship is being towed slowly to Mobile, Alabama, and is expected to port late February 14.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Chase Maclaskey

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers set up makeshift beds on a deck of the ship.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Trey and Kendall Love

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers fill the deck of the ship and look up toward the sky.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Trey and Kendall Love

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers lie on beds in a hallway aboard the Carnival Triumph.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Robin Goebel

Moments from aboard the ship —

iReporter Robin Goebel says passengers dubbed an area "tent city" where many had chosen to set up temporary shelters on the deck of the disabled Carnival Triumph. Many slept on the decks of the ship because the rooms were too hot.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Jacob Combs

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers aboard the disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ship wave to a helicopter overhead as it approaches the vessel on February 14.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Kaitlyn Robertson

Moments from aboard the ship —

"This was one of the discovered only working outlets so people put their power strips together and we made a huge charging station," wrote passenger Kaitlyn Robertson.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Megan Clemons-Foxall

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers lie on mattresses in a hallway aboard the Carnival Triumph.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Megan Clemons-Foxall

Moments from aboard the ship —

According to passenger Megan Clemons-Foxall these "buckets of sewage" rest in stairwell aboard the ship.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Megan Clemons-Foxall

Moments from aboard the ship —

Passengers help themselves to food aboard the ship.

Photos: Photos: Triumph passengers share photos

Courtesy Jacob Combs

Moments from aboard the ship —

Instagram user Jacob Combs shot this photo of his balcony on the ship with the caption, "Excited for working toilets!"

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Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

The crippled cruise liner Carnival Triumph limps into port late Thursday, February 14, in Mobile, Alabama. Passengers had endured five days aboard the stricken ship with little power and few toilet facilities after a fire knocked out propulsion and other systems on Sunday, February 10.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

DAN ANDERSON/AFP/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Passengers wave from the decks of the Triumph after docking at the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

DAN ANDERSON/AFP/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Passengers cheer after stepping off the crippled cruise ship. The last ones got off early Friday, February 15.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

DAN ANDERSON/AFP/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines, holds a press conference at the Alabama Cruise Terminal after the ship docked February 14.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

The Triumph will be moved on February 15 to a shipyard at Mobile's port, where it could be repaired. Carnival has canceled more than a dozen of the ship's planned voyages.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Dan ANDERSONDAN ANDERSON/AFP/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Passenger Kendall Jenkins kisses the ground after stepping off the Triumph.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Members of the media wait for the last passengers to disembark the ship.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

Journalists await the final unloading from the Triumph.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Lt. Cmdr. Paul McConnell/US Coast Guard via Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter delivers equipment, including a generator and electrical cables, to the Triumph on Wednesday, February 13, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Photos: Photos: Triumph cruise ship docks in Alabama

Paul McConnell/U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images

Triumph cruise ship docks —

The cruise ship drifts in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, February 11. The ship was carrying more than 3,200 passengers and nearly 1,100 crew members.

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More than 4,000 passengers and crew members were stranded aboard what’s now known as the “poop cruise” after a fire knocked out the ship’s power. The ship drifted four days before it could be towed into Mobile, Alabama – the whole time without air conditioning, and largely without lights, water, food and working toilets.

CNN has learned that the crew of the Triumph set sail in February with only four of six generators fully operational, knowing that the company had an ongoing generator fire hazard in ships across its fleet, including Triumph.

Houston attorney Frank Spagnoletti represents the Rodriguez family and several dozen other passengers from the ill-fated Carnival Triumph who have filed suit against Carnival Cruise Lines.

“That ship never should have set sail in February,” Spagnoletti said. “It was unseaworthy at the commencement of the voyage. These documents tell you that the company – and I’m saying to you the corporation back in Miami – had knowledge of the fact that this vessel had a propensity for fires; that there were things that could have been, should have been, and weren’t done in order to make sure that fires didn’t take place.”

The first trouble with Triumph was in diesel generator No. 6 – the one that wound up catching fire. Starting more than a year before the infamous cruise, that generator was overdue for maintenance, often not in compliance with the safety laws of the sea, known as SOLAS, according to the ship’s engineer.

Read the document about the generator (PDF)

Over and over again, Carnival’s own maintenance reports stated the same thing: Diesel generator No. 6 was overdue for maintenance. The company says the fire that originated with the generator was not connected to the lack of maintenance. But, during that same time period, Carnival learned about another, even more alarming safety problem in the engine room: fuel lines.

A dangerous pattern of leaks had emerged on other Carnival cruise ships, according to the company’s documents. In fact, Carnival’s Costa Allegra caught fire in the Indian Ocean in February 2012 because fuel leaked onto a hot spot and ignited. That fire left the ship without power for three days in tropical heat of nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read Carnival’s advisory notice (PDF)

That would be eerily similar to what started the fire on board the Triumph one year later.

Carnival says it proactively began investigating after the Costa Allegra fire and found a big problem in a different type of fuel line. There had been nine incidents resulting in fuel leaks associated with flexible fuel lines in just two years.

Spate of fires pose problem for cruise industry

On January 2, Carnival issued a compliance order, giving ships two months to address the problem to “ensure a suitable spray shield … is installed” for all diesel engines using the flexible fuel lines.

“After that internal study, the company came out with a new policy to, again, shield all the flanges and the hoses,” said Mark Jackson, Carnival Cruise Lines vice president of technical operations.

But Carnival did not in fact shield the part of the one hose that wound up causing the tragedy on board the Triumph in February.

“That hose was beneath the deck plates, and it was believed the deck plates would provide that shield,” Jackson said. “In this case, it (the fuel leak) found that gap in the hose … in the bilge plates and caused the fire.”

On February 7 – with a diesel generator still in need of overhaul and fuel line shields on some, but not all, of its flexible hoses – Triumph set sail from Galveston Texas. Three days later, off the coast of Mexico, a fire broke out in diesel generator No. 6 when fuel sprayed from a flexible fuel line, even though that fuel line was only six months old.

“We were totally in compliance … with all the rules and regulations,” Jackson said. “We had … our regulating bodies on board the ship less than two weeks prior that had certified the ship to sail. Obviously, you learn things on a situation, on an incident such as the Triumph.”

Those regulating bodies included the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyd’s insurance.

While Carnival Cruise Lines insists that what happened on the Triumph was just an accident, the company has dedicated $300 million in a fleet-wide safety upgrade, focusing on detecting and preventing any potential fire hazards in its engine rooms.

The company also points out to the passengers suing that the cruise line never promised a safe trip.

Carnival’s court filing says the “ticket contract makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions.” Since the Triumph fire, Carnival says it has instituted a 110% money-back “Great Vacation Guarantee” on its cruises.

Fraction of cruise ship crimes are made public