Approximately 14 Canadians are among more than 1,000 people aboard an Italian cruise ship that is being towed through pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday.
In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jean-Bruno Villeneuve said one of the Canadians is a crew member of the Costa Allegra.
The ship is not expected to reach safe harbour until Thursday, when it is scheduled to arrive in the Seychelles.
"The Canadian High Commission in Tanzania is working with other foreign missions to provide consular assistance to the Canadians onboard once they arrive in the Seychelles," said the statement.
In the meantime, said the statement, Canadian officials "continue to monitor the situation closely."
The Costa Allegra, which is owned by the same company that saw its Costa Concordia run aground six weeks ago off Italy, killing at least 25 people, lost power Monday when a fire broke out in the generator room.
The blaze caused the ship's engines to fail along with its lights and air conditioning system.
Suddenly, the ship was floundering in a sea where Somali pirates have carried out numerous attacks on commercial vessels.
Tugboats were dispatched to tow the crippled vessel to safety along with a French fishing vessel. There is also an armed, nine-member Italian military crew onboard ready to help fend off any potential attacks.
Photos released on Tuesday showed hundreds of people on the deck of the cruise ship, and officials said passengers would sleep in the open air rather than in their unlit cabins.
There are 636 passengers and 413 crew members aboard the ship. Four of the passengers are children age three or younger.
Cruise ship officials had originally said they would be taking the passengers to Desroches, a small Seychelles island, and expected to arrive on Wednesday.
However, the plan was then altered to bring the travellers to Mahe, the main island in the Seychelles, and officials said they expected to make landfall there on Thursday.
Giorgio Moretti, the director of nautical operations for the ship's operator, Costa Crociere SpA, told reporters in a conference call late Monday that the ship was "stable and upright."
An official Seychelles spokesperson also downplayed the situation.
"It's a big ship and to tow it, to move it across the waters, is a heavy task," said Seychelles presidential spokesperson Srdjana Janosevic. She said passengers were calm and no one had been hurt.
On Tuesday officials said the ship, which is being towed towards the exclusive Seychelles, was being supplied by helicopter with food, satellite phones and VHF radios.
The ship's control room was being kept illuminated by generators, which were also powering communications equipment. However, for the most part the ship was without electricity.
The ship had departed Madagascar, off southeast Africa, on Saturday en route to Port Victoria where it was scheduled to arrive Tuesday.
However somewhere off the coast of Tanzania, the ship broke down due to the fire.
Another Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack in the region in 2009.
Moretti said the military crew was equipped to protect the Costa Allegra from such an attack, but so far no pirates had been spotted in the region.
He added: The region where the ship is located "isn't a high risk area for pirates."
A crew of engineers and technicians has been sent to the Seychelles to await the ship and hopefully repair its generators.
Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to have been on the Costa Allegra can contact DFAIT's Emergency Operations Centre by calling 1-800-387-3124, or by sending an email to sos@international.gc.ca.
With files from The Associated Press
