Costa Allegra cruise liner in trouble off Seychelles

Italian cruise liner Costa Allegra is adrift off the Seychelles with more than 1,000 people on board, after a fire took out its power.

The ship is operated by Costa Cruises, which also owns the stricken Costa Concordia.

It is currently stranded around 200 miles south-west of the Seychelles and 20 miles from Alphonse Island, the Guardian reported.

According to a company statement, none of the Allegra's passengers or crew was hurt. The fire apparently broke out in the engine room and did not spread.

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The crew managed to extinguish the flames after "a few hours," a commander from the Italian coast guard, which is monitoring the incident, told the BBC.

The fire left the Allegra unable to start her motors, prompting the crew to send a distress signal.

The Seychelles maritime authority is sending tug boats and a plane to the liner and will probably tow it back to port, Coast Guard Commander Cosimo Nicastro said. 

There are 636 passengers and 413 crew on board. They are currently without electric lights, according to the BBC, since all batteries are being used to power essential machinery.

According to the Costa website, the Allegra set sail from Mauritius on Feb. 20, and was due to tour Madagascar and the Seychelles before making its way along the coast of east Africa, through the Suez Canal and on to Italy.

Its sister ship, the Concordia, ran aground off Italy last month, leaving at least 21 people dead.

That disaster was expected to hit the earnings of Costa and other cruise companies; this latest incident will not do their reputation any favors, either.

More from GlobalPost: Costa Concordia search called off, 15 still missing