World cruise giant hits trouble after accidents

Flight MH370 was crashed into the Indian Ocean in an apparent suicide mission, well-placed sources revealed Monday night as Malaysia’s prime minister announced that everyone on the missing aircraft had died.

GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy — The disgraced former captain of a luxury cruise liner that capsized off an Italian island went back on board Thursday for the first time since the 2012 shipwreck that killed 32 people. The last time Francesco Schettino was on the Costa Concordia he was about to board a lifeboat while hundreds of passengers and crew were still trying to figure out their own escape routes after the liner rammed a reef close to Giglio Island on Jan. 13, 2012, rapidly took on water and listed badly.

A fire breaks out in the engine room of the Costa Allegra, which is carrying 636 passengers, including eight Americans.

SYDNEY, Australia — Authorities were conducting an air and marine search Thursday off Australia’s east coast for two cruise passengers who were believed to have fallen overboard the night before. The couple from New South Wales were discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney’s Circular Quay, at the end of a 10-day journey, said New South Wales state Police Superintendent Mark Hutchings.

Over its 41 years, Carnival Cruise Line has had a checkered past. In its heyday, Carnival was the cruise brand known for innovation, but more recently it has become known as the brand with PR disasters to deal with.