15 May 2004,An engine room fire was extingished and no one was injured after the ship caught fire with 160 passengers onboard (560 capacity) when it was 3 miles (30 minutes) south of Port Everglades. It was towed back to Port Everglades two hours later and passengers were offloaded.About a dozen people suffered minor injuries after fire broke out aboard a gambling cruise ship carrying about 160 people on Sunday, officials said.

Rescue workers examined the passengers as a precaution after the ship docked, but all were released, said Lt. David Erdman of the Broward County fire department. Some passengers were treated for minor smoke inhalation, Coast Guard Petty Officer Anastasia Burns said.

The fire on the SunCruz Casino cruise ship was reported about half an hour after the vessel left at noon for a five-hour sail from Dania Beach, Burns said. The ship was three miles south of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale when the fire broke out

The ship -- the SunCruz V, a 160-foot vessel that can hold 560 people -- was towed to Port Everglades about two hours later with everyone still on board, officials said. All passengers were off the ship by about 3 p.m., Burns said.

Broward firefighters who reached the ship while it was still at sea sealed the engine room's airtight doors to contain the blaze, Erdman said. When they opened the doors while the ship was in port, the fire was out, he said.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but an investigation was planned, Burns said.

People on board were sent to the outdoor top deck and were given life vests after the fire started.

One passenger, Betty Davis of Fort Lauderdale, said patrons were told that a generator caught fire, sparking the blaze.

"The whole boat filled with smoke," Davis said. "And without the motor going, the boat was really rocking around."

Leslie Ford, a ticket sales representative for SunCruz, had no other details of the incident. The ship's evening sail was canceled, Ford said.

The cruise line's ships feature slot machines and table games.