PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – Victory Casino Cruises voluntarily canceled its Thursday evening sailing after a stack fire broke out on its Victory 1 gambling ship as it was returning to Port Canaveral from its day cruise around 4 p.m., according to News 6 partner Florida Today.
Victory and Canaveral Fire Rescue officials say the fire was confined to the ship’s stack, with no damage any other areas of the ship. There were no injuries to the ship’s passengers and crew.
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The incident caused a stir on social media. But Victory officials say the matter was blown out of proportion, and that the ship would be sailing as scheduled on Friday.
Tim Levensaler, Victory’s marine superintendent and master of the vessel, said the incident was triggered when a squall with wind gusts he estimated at more than 55 mph developed as the Victory 1 was approaching the port at the end of its five-hour cruise.
“During our approach to the pier, an extreme squall hit us, causing us to have to run the main engines up to the maximum” revolutions per minute, Levensaler said.
“We did this so we could get away from the pier and circle around to make another approach. This caused the exhaust temperatures to rise high enough to ignite the residual soot inside the exhaust pipes. Once this overheated exhaust got to the top of the exhaust and mixed with the oxygen of the atmosphere, it ignited into flames and smoke at the exit point.”
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Levensaler said the flame was inside the exhaust pipe and the exit point to the atmosphere, and “at no time was there any flames or smoke within the vessel. In the marine trade this is called a ‘stack fire.’ It is an occurrence that is quickly and safely handled by shutting down the engine. This takes away the heat source, and immediately extinguishes the fire. At no time were the passengers and crew in any danger.”
Canaveral Fire Rescue Assistant Chief and Fire Marshal Derek Yossifon confirmed that the fire was contained to the stack. He said his department inspected the ship, and found no damage to other parts of the ship.
Yossifon said the ship’s crew got passengers off the ship after it docked without any problems.
Victory Chief Executive Officer Lester Bullock said there were about 300 passengers, plus about 80 Victory crew members and other staff, on the ship at the time of the incident.
Bullock said he voluntarily decided to cancel the Thursday evening sailing, adding that the ship was cleared by the U.S. Coast Guard to sail on Friday, when it has two scheduled sailings.
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