A leak in a fuel oil return line is what sparked an engine-room fire on an ill-fated Carnival cruise ship.

But the US Coast Guard guesses it could take as long as 6 months to wrap up their  investigation of the disabled ship.

The Bahamas is leading the way, with the Coast Guard & National Transportation Safety Board heading up US interests in the probe.

Investigators have been with the ship since it arrived in Mobile on Thursday. Passengers & members of the crew have been interviewed.

The ship left Galveston, Texas, on February 7th for a 4-day trip to Mexico. The fire paralysed the ship February 10th, leaving it adrift in the Gulf of Mexico until tugboats towed it to Mobile.

(With files from the Associated Press)