Cruise Ship Secured as Coast Guard Searches Nearby for Missing Shipyard Worker in Mobile, Ala.
Carnival said the ship drifted and was resting against a cargo vessel.
April 3, 2013 — -- The Carnival Triumph cruise ship, which broke away from its moorings in Mobile, Ala., amid high winds with approximately 800 people on board, has been resecured, and all aboard are safe and accounted for, the cruise line said.
However, a search continued for a shipyard worker believed blown into the Mobile River around the same time in a separate incident, the Coast Guard said.
Two security guards, employees of the shipyard, went into the water when their guard shack blew over during the high winds, ABC News Radio reported. One guard was pulled from the water and one remained missing.
The Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast asking mariners to be on the lookout for the missing worker amid the Coast Guard search.
"Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report at approximately 1:45 p.m. that a BAE Systems employee became missing after the Carnival Triumph broke free from its moorings while in dry dock at the BAE shipyard," the Coast Guard said in a prepared statement. "The missing employee is ... reportedly not wearing a life jacket. One other BAE employee was recovered safely. The ship is reportedly at the Signal International shipyard across from BAE."
The Coast Guard sent tugboats and other vessels to the scene of the loose cruise ship and officials managed to resecure it, Carnival said this evening.
"With the assistance of tugboats on site, the ship has been moved to the Mobile Cruise Terminal," Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman for Carnival, said in a written statement. "Lines have moored the ship, and, as a precaution, tugboats will remain alongside the vessel as well."
He added that hundreds of people aboard the ship were safe.
"All of the approximately 600 crew and 200 contractors who were onboard the vessel are safe and have been accounted for through a roll call," read Gulliksen's statement. "There are no reports of injuries. While assessment of damage to the ship is ongoing, initial indications suggest the damage is limited."
Carnival blamed the breakaway on wind gusts of as much as 70 mph in the area.
PHOTOS: Carnival Triumph Cruise Ship Stranded
The Triumph was towed to Mobile after losing power during a round-trip cruise from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel, Mexico, in February, stranding 4,000 people at sea for five days. A fire broke out in its engine room, disabling the vessel's propulsion system and knocking out much of its power.
The ship was taken out of service and was expected to sail again on June 3.