Two crew members die during ‘incident’ on Holland America cruise ship

Two crew members on board a Holland America cruise ship have been killed in the engine room after falling victim to a horrific incident.

Two crew members on a Holland America cruise ship died during an “incident” in the ship’s engineering space, the cruise line said.

The crew members, identified as third engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan, died Friday while the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam was at Half Moon Bay in the Bahamas, Holland America said in a statement.

Two crew members died while on board the ship. Picture: supplied.

USA Today reports Mr Terrado was from the Philippines and Mr Gusnawan was from Indonesia.

Initial reports suggest the deaths occurred following “an accidental steam release in an engineering space”.

Authorities were notified and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the cruise line said, adding that crew members were being offered counselling.

“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members’ families at this difficult time,” the statement read.

“The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company’s absolute priority.”

It later said the Bahamas Maritime Authority was leading the investigation.

Third engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan, died on Friday.

“The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board are currently investigating. Safety is always our top priority, and we are working to understand what, if anything, can be learned from this tragic accident,” the spokesperson said to USA Today, noting that earlier reports that the crew members died in a fire on board were incorrect.

The ship set sail out of Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night trip, and returned to Fort Lauderdale around two hours late on Saturday, and left for its next cruise about three hours late.