The ship had been 139km (75 nautical miles) south-west of the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef when the coastguard heard of the incident.

BBC: Azamara cruise ship sails for Malaysia after fire repairs

Sunk just off Key West , an island in the Straits of Florida, in 2009, the Vandenberg is the second-largest artificial reef in the world, attracting a diverse range of marine animals and plant life.

CNN: March 7, 2013 -- Updated 1201 GMT (2001 HKT)