FAN FAVORITE: Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | Dead in the Water | 2

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0:21The End

0:39from their cabin just minutes ago after the captain announced that a fire had broken out in the engine room. He ordered all passengers to evacuate onto the deck as a precaution, but the order hadn't said anything about dressing warmly. Luckily, Muriel and Agnes put on sweaters, but plenty of other passengers are shivering in nothing but their pajamas. Muriel looks out at the sea. It's dark and still, considerably calmer than the rough waters that forced so many passengers to skip dinner just a few hours ago, but the air is damp and biting. She can't wait to be back in her warm bed. Agnes voices what Muriel is thinking.

1:22So there's a little fire somewhere, big deal. They have all kinds of foams and chemicals to put it out. I'm sure we'll be back in our cabin in no time. Muriel nods. She can see her breath illuminated in the glow of the emergency lights. I hope so. I can't believe how cold it is. Muriel and Agnes are both in their mid-60s. They've been inseparable since their husbands died several years ago. The two women golfed together and traveled together. For this cruise, they spent months planning and pouring over brochures. Before they left their homes in New Jersey, their families threw them a big bon voyage party.

2:00Passengers continue to crowd onto the deck. A woman that Muriel recognizes as the captain's wife is passing out blankets. Another woman in curlers and a robe meets Muriel's glance. They opened our door with a passkey and just barged in. We were half naked. Muriel shakes her head sympathetically. Then she hears singing. Craning her neck, she sees the ship's entertainers huddled together in a corner of the deck, singing songs from Broadway musicals. As Muriel listens, they launch into You'll Never Walk Alone. That's a little too close to home, Muriel thinks. She turns to her friend. Agnes, I'm freezing.

2:41Let's see if we can sneak back to our room and grab some more clothes. They make their way to the stairwell that leads down to their cabin. The stairs are dark, and they have to feel their way along the handrail. As they reach the first landing, Muriel stops, startled. A figure is barring their way, shining a flashlight right in their eyes. Muriel squints and sees a crew member wearing a black rubber gas mask. Turn back, ladies. There's too much smoke. For a second, Muriel is confused. What's the harm in just grabbing some warmer clothes? But the crew member is blocking their way and motioning for them to go back up the stairs.

3:23That's when she sees it. Wisps of smoke rising in the stairwell, climbing toward them. She and Agnes turn around and hurry back up the stairs to the promenade deck. The entertainers are still singing. The other passengers look relaxed, chatting, even laughing. It all feels suddenly surreal. Muriel reaches out for Agnes' arm. I think this is worse than they're letting on. Agnes looks at her and nods. Do you think we could be out here all night? How are we supposed to keep warm? Muriel doesn't answer. She's beginning to suspect they might have bigger problems than just keeping warm. She thinks back to the lifeboat drill they had the other morning.

4:10Almost no one was paying attention, including her. Now she wonders if that was a terrible mistake.

4:25Police in Irvine, California are investigating the double murder of a young couple in the parking lot of their apartment complex. A double homicide grabs the public's attention by the throat. We have identified Christopher Dorner as a suspect in this double homicide. A former cop and still on the loose. Considered armed and extremely dangerous. And scariest of all, he left something behind. A particular interest is a multi-page manifesto. This manifesto on Facebook is 11 pages long. Trace, this manifesto from this suspect who's targeting cops, it's stunning. Listen to the show The New Yorker calls one of the best podcasts of the summer.

5:04Dan Taberski's Manifesto. And I tell you, this manifesto, it scares the hell out of me. Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts or binge the entire series right now, only with Audible.

5:26From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey. And this is Against the Odds.

5:38In the middle of the night, on October 4th, 1980, the passengers aboard the cruise ship Prinzendam were awakened by an urgent announcement from the captain. There was a fire in the ship's engine room. Prinzendam was in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska, not even four days into a planned 29-day cruise. As the passengers shivered on the deck, the crew fought desperately to contain the fire. But the ship's engines were shut down due to the fire, and a typhoon was growing closer. It soon became clear that Prinzendam and the lives of all 519 of her passengers and crew were in grave danger. This is Episode 2, Dead in the Water.

6:31Captain Cornelius Wabika paces the bridge of Prinzendam, waiting for word that all crew members have evacuated the engine room. The fire there has been raging for 45 minutes, and all of the crew's efforts to put it out have failed. Wabika has one option left. To flood the engine room with carbon dioxide gas, CO2 will starve the fire of oxygen. But it will also leave the engine room uninhabitable for hours, which means Prinzendam will effectively be dead in the water. The cruise will be over, but he has no choice. Finally, Wabika gets word from his chief engineer. The engine room has been evacuated and sealed.

7:17It's 1.37 a.m. Wabika turns to his first officer, Hendrik Valk. Deploy the CO2. Wabika knows the CO2 will snuff out the flames in a matter of minutes, but he also knows that the fire has generated massive amounts of heat, and that heat has to go somewhere. He just hopes most of it escapes up through the smokestack. Otherwise, if too much heat seeps through the bulkheads, it could cause whatever's on the other side to spontaneously combust. Wabika glances outside. It's a beautiful night, but the remnants of Typhoon Vernon are heading toward them. The rough waters they encountered a few hours ago were nothing compared to what they're about to face and with all the engines shut down, the ship's stabilizers have no power.

8:06They'll be at the mercy of the typhoon's waves. He swallows hard. The fire may be out but he knows Princedam's passengers and crew are in for a long, difficult night.

8:25Jeannie Gilmore gazes at the stars from the promenade deck of Princedam. The nighttime sky is clear and vast. She can even see the northern lights dancing on the horizon. If she can just focus on the view, maybe she can stop thinking about the fire that's burning somewhere in the bowels of the ship. Jeannie can feel her mother, Neva, shivering beside her. She rubs her palm briskly over Neva's shoulders, warming her through her thin coat. Mom, you okay? I'm fine. I just wish I dressed more warmly. Do you want my hat? Neva turns to her daughter and smiles. Before they left the cabin, Jeannie threw on her white fur hat.

9:09It keeps her warm, but it looks a bit silly. Jeannie's husband, Bill, likes to say it looks like a rabbit fell asleep on her head. No, I think it looks better on you, Jeannie. Jeannie glances at Neva's face, barely illuminated by the waning moon. Maybe that's why she looks so pale, Jeannie thinks. Or maybe it's because her mother hasn't eaten anything in hours. Neva had begged off dinner after the rough waters made her seasick. Jeannie wonders if maybe the ship's kitchen might open up to feed all the passengers who skipped dinner. Jeannie nervously fingers the pearls around her neck. A few hours ago, her mother had urged her to take them off before bed, but she joked that if the ship went down, she'd go down wearing them.

9:55It seemed funny at the time, but not anymore. Jeannie takes a deep breath of the chilly air and tells herself to get a grip. There's no need for drama. This is a state-of-the-art cruise ship with all the best technology aboard. Mom, do you hear that? I guess the ship's entertainers are still on the clock. Jeannie and Neva walk closer to where a crowd is gathered. Jeannie peers over a man's shoulders. She sees some of the singers clustered together, smiling and swaying their way through an a cappella version of Oh, What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma, one of her favorite musicals. Just then, the public address system crackles to life.

10:40May I have your attention? This is the captain. We have succeeded in sealing the engine room and have flooded it with carbon dioxide. This will extinguish the fire, but it will take more time to clear the smoke. We now ask that all passengers please move to the stern of the ship. Thank you for your patience. The announcement seems to lift Neva's spirits. She smiles at her daughter. Well, that's good news. Sounds like we might be on our way soon. Jeannie nods, but doesn't say what she's thinking. If they've sealed the engine room and flooded it with carbon dioxide, will they be able to restart the engines?

11:18Will the engines even be operable? She looks out at the endless black sea. Suddenly, their ship seems very small.

11:34Captain Wabika rolls his head from side to side, trying to loosen the tension in his shoulders. It's 1.55 a.m. 18 minutes have passed since he ordered the deployment of the carbon dioxide. But there's a problem. With the engine room evacuated and sealed, no one can confirm that the fire is fully out. An officer steps onto the bridge and approaches Wabika. Sir, we've been monitoring the temperature on the bulkheads outside the engine room. They're still hot, but the temperature does appear to be dropping. Wubika feels his shoulders relax a little. If the fire was still burning, those temperatures would be climbing, not dropping.

12:15The CO2 must be working. But solving one problem has created another. Because it's full of CO2, the engine room will be inaccessible for hours. And with the engines shut down and possibly damaged from the fire, Princedam might need help. Wubika orders his radio man to send an XXX message, a distress signal. That's one level of urgency below an SOS. The XXX message will ping any nearby ships and be received by Coast Guard personnel on the coast. It will say that Prinzendam has run into trouble, and while she's in no danger of sinking, she needs assistance. He dictates the message. Passenger ship Prinzendam.

12:58Position 57 degrees, 38 minutes north, 140 degrees, 25 minutes west. Fire in the engine room. Flooded engine room with carbon dioxide. Condition unknown. Passengers 319, crew 200. The radio officer sends the message via Morse code. Wabika rubs his chin and thinks. Dawn is five hours away. By then, he hopes, help will have arrived. With the right assistance, they can save the ship and safely transport the passengers back to shore. Maybe the worst is over.

13:41John Graham and his daughter Mallory sit on deck chairs and munch peanuts. He found some stashed in the pocket of his windbreaker. It's 2 a.m., and all of the passengers are crowded on the stern of the ship. He pivots in his seat and peers through the windows into Prince and Dam's lounge. A drink from the lounge's bar would calm his nerves, but the captain has ordered everyone to remain out here on the deck in case smoke spreads further throughout the ship. The ship's entertainers have commandeered the shuffleboard court and are using it as an impromptu stage to sing show tunes. He turns back to Mallory.

14:19She seems fine, all things considered. As a Vietnam veteran, Graham knows that crisis reveals a person's true character. Looking at Mallory now, he couldn't be prouder. But at the same time, he's worried about her. After all, she's only 13. He reaches out to take her hand in his. How you holding up, Mal? I'm okay. I'm just cold. And to be honest, I could do without the old people music. Graham laughs. What do you mean? You're not a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan? At first, Graham and Mallory had busied themselves by setting up tables and chairs for the elderly passengers. It was a good distraction, and it had kept them warm.

15:02But now, sitting here, he can feel the cold seeping into his bones. He leans back in his chair and stares up at the sky, trying to remember the constellations he learned as a kid. This is not the kind of quiet reflection he had in mind when he agreed to come on this cruise. Dad, look! Mallory points to a nearby deck railing. Graham sees it immediately. Thick, dark smoke curling up slowly from somewhere just below them. He pushes himself up out of his chair and goes to investigate. The smoke is rising from the hull below. Other passengers see it too. He notices a man in silk pajamas and a camel hair blazer gripping the railing.

15:47He looks angry. What the hell is going on? But no one answers him. Everyone is watching the smoke as it billows up. an acrid curtain rising all around them. Graham hurries back to Mallory's side. He wraps his arms around her and whispers just loud enough for her to hear. Mal, listen. We need to prepare for the worst here, okay? We may need to abandon ship. Graham feels his daughter gasp against him. He pulls her tighter and they move to the other side of the stern. At least, there isn't smoke there yet.

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17:44Captain Cornelius Wabika tugs anxiously at the cuffs of his crisp white uniform. Whatever relief he might have felt earlier is gone. For every step forward, it seems they take two back. Initial reports from below had been promising. The temperature outside the engine room bulkheads was coming down, which could only mean that the carbon dioxide had done its job and snuffed out the fire. Then Wabika ordered the crew to spray the engine room's exterior bulkheads with seawater to cool them down even more. but they discovered that the hoses weren't working, and no one can figure out why. An emergency generator runs the pump that feeds these hoses, and that's working fine.

18:31Wabika knows the ship is at a pivotal point. Even though the fire is out, it burns so hot and for so long that temperatures inside the engine room could have reached 2 ,000 degrees. All that heat could start a new fire if it seeps through the bulkheads, and if that happens, they'll have no good way to contain it. Princeton Dam has no sprinkler system and the crew has already used up most of the ship's fire extinguishers. Just then, a member of the crew steps onto the bridge. It's Dirk Zeller, the ship's hotel manager. He's responsible for all of Princeton Dam's passenger areas. He looks frazzled, like he's been getting it from all sides.

19:13Captain, the passengers are complaining about the cold. I wonder if I could suggest opening up the lounge or the restaurant just to give them a place to warm up. Wabika pauses. I see. Let me discuss it first with my officers. He knows he made a mistake by not advising the passengers to dress warmly before leaving their cabins. He had assumed that they'd be back inside within minutes, but those minutes turned into hours. Temperatures are in the 40s, and many of the passengers are old. Some are outside in only pajamas. He pulls aside the chief engineer, as well as his second-in-command, Chief Officer Valk.

19:54So what do you think? It will warm up the passengers, but is it safe to let them back inside? The chief engineer answers first. I think it'll allow some of the smoke and heat to dissipate. I see no reason not to do it. Valk nods in agreement. The fire is contained. Our focus now should be on the well-being of the passengers. Wubika nods and turns back to Zeller. Very well. Open the doors to the restaurant and to the lounge and let the passengers back inside. Zeller exhales in relief. Thank you, sir. Zeller turns and dashes out. Wubika hopes he made the right decision. He feels pulled in so many different directions.

20:33But his primary responsibility is the safety of the passengers. and with so many of them elderly and not dressed warmly, hypothermia is a real concern. Unfortunately, Wubika knows that this cruise is over. All he can do now is try to minimize his passengers' discomfort until help arrives.

21:03Richard Steele leans against a wall at the rear of Prinzendam's crowded lounge and lifts an old-fashioned to his lips. The bourbon warms him on the first sip. After over an hour outside on the frigid deck, he's relieved to finally be indoors again. When the crew unlocked the doors to the lounge, some enterprising passengers made a beeline for the bar and started mixing drinks. Richard happily accepted one. After all they'd been through tonight, he could use a cocktail. Richard glances at his watch. It's just after two o 'clock in the morning. He peers through the light haze of smoke filling the room and spots his wife, Louise, relaxing in an armchair near the doors.

21:50He's glad to see her resting. He leans back against the wall again. Then, he notices something odd. His back, where it's pressed up against the wall, feels warm. Actually, not just warm. He turns around and presses a hand to the steel wall. It's hot. Richard flags down a passing crew member. Hey, excuse me. What's on the other side of this wall? Oh, that's the ventilation shaft for the engine room. Richard stops the young man before he continues on his way. You mean where the fire is? Where the fire was. We're certain it's out. The crew member hurries off, leaving Richard puzzled. Is the wall normally this hot?

22:37The engine room is four levels down from here. He remembers noting that on a diagram of the ship he'd seen in his room. and directly beneath where he's standing is the dining room. He kneels down, pressing his hand to the carpet. Is the floor warm too? Or is it just his imagination? Richard stands up and looks for Louise, but she's no longer in the armchair. He spots her in the far corner of the lounge, watching the singers who've moved their performance inside. He hears the opening notes of Suri with a Fringe on Top. He can feel his eyes burn. The smoke seems to be getting worse. Drink up, people.

23:20A little booze gets the blood flowing. Richard turns to see a man in his 70s in a blue yachting cap, working the room with a whiskey bottle in each fist. He's offering up shots to any passenger who wants one. He approaches two women that Richard recognizes as Jeannie Gilmore and her mother Neva. He met them at dinner the first night of the cruise. The man offers the bottle to Jeannie, but she wrinkles her nose and waves him away. Richard watches the man in the yachting cap move on to two other older women, who each accept the bottle and take a swig. The man raises his arms and lets out a cheer, then motions to the singers.

23:59Hey, they had music on the Titanic, right? So why not us too? Richard is surprised when everyone erupts in laughter. They clearly don't think they're in any danger. He steps away from the now scorching hot wall. He's starting to suspect that they're wrong.

24:24Second Officer Matthew Osterwick dashes down a stairwell on Princeton Dam. He's barely had time to familiarize himself with the ship, yet here he is racing around to ensure that all 25 of her watertight doors are shut. A few minutes ago, Captain Wabika ordered all interior doors to be closed. Now that there are passengers in the dining room and lounge, he wants to make sure no smoke spreads to those areas. The doors were closed remotely with the push of a button from the bridge, but the captain wants visual confirmation, and it's Osterwick's job to get it. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs.

25:03There must be a door open somewhere, because the passageway on this level is filling with smoke. The closer he gets to the engine room, the more smoke there is. Osterwick starts to cough. The smoke here is too thick for him to venture any further. He has no choice but to go back, put on some breathing apparatus, and return. As he bounds back up the stairs, he looks up to see an elderly man in a bathrobe descending towards him. He can't believe it. Don't these passengers know how dangerous the situation is? Hey, what are you doing? I just need something from my room. Absolutely not. There's too much smoke down there.