Posted on: Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Cruise crewman needs hospital care for burns

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A crew member on the Norwegian Star cruise ship suffered burns over 80 percent of his body during an accident in the engine room yesterday.

The accident happened while the 36-year-old man and another crewman were working on the boiler system, said Norwegian Star spokeswoman Dale Hahn. Details of the accident were not available, but Hahn said both men suffered steam burns.

The ship's doctor told the captain that serious injuries to the 36-year-old man required treatment in a hospital, Hahn said. The crewman suffered second-degree burns over 75 to 80 percent of his body.

The condition of the other crewman was not available, but Hahn said he wasn't injured as seriously.

The Coast Guard in Honolulu was notified at 1:50 p.m. and the Norwegian Star was instructed to head back to the Big Island, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lauren Smith. At about 6 a.m. today, the liner is expected to be 30 miles southwest of Kona when a Coast Guard helicopter will land on the ship to pick up the seriously injured man.

The helicopter will fly to Kuakini Medical Center on O'ahu where an ambulance will transfer the man to Straub Clinic and Hospital, Smith said. The crewman was listed in serious to critical condition in the Norwegian Star's sick bay last night, according to Smith..

The Norwegian Star was about 350 miles south of the Big Island and headed for Fanning Island when the accident occurred, Smith said. It was on the same leg of the cruise last month that the liner rescued 11 crew members of the Indonesian tanker Insiko 1907 in the aftermath of a fire that killed a sailor and left the tanker and crew adrift for 20 days.