Carnival Cruise Ship Brawl Ends in Coast Guard Escort

Up to 60 people were involved in a brawl on a Carnival cruise ship, which ultimately required a Coast Guard escort back to New York on Tuesday. The fight erupted on a dance floor on the Carnival Magic around 5:20am Tuesday just before the ship was scheduled to wrap up its eight-day cruise of Dominicana, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas, per PIX11. It initially involved two people but another 40 to 60 soon got involved, according to WNBC. Carnival Magic said only that "a number of guests were involved in an altercation in a nightclub" before "our onboard security team intervened." It added "no serious injuries were reported."

Cruise officials informed the Coast Guard, which sent a boat from Staten Island to escort the ship to its Pier 88 dock, where members of the New York Police Department were waiting, per WNBC. The NYPD described it as an emergency docking, per PIX11, though Carnival Magic said it was a scheduled final stop in the round-trip cruise that departed June 20. The cruise line added authorities "met the ship to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct an investigation." It's not known whether the ship was within New York, New Jersey, or international waters at the time of the disturbance, WNBC reports. There has been no word on arrests. (More Carnival Cruise Lines stories.)