An Island-owned cruise ship which sunk off Malaysia is the former Celebrity Cruises Bermuda route vessel Meridian .

The old Celebrity ship, sold on to Singapore company Sun Cruises with ownership of the vessel based in Bermuda, sank after a fire in the engine room got out of control.

The Bahamas-registered ship, renamed Sun Vista , is owned by Sun Vista Ltd, an offshore firm whose registered address is the Hamilton law offices of Milligan-Whyte and Smith.

Law firm partner Orlando Smith said yesterday: "We have only heard the same things which have been released to the public.'' He added: "It is a Bermuda company, incorporated in Bermuda, but the shipping company is not operated from here.'' The Meridien -- which sailed to Bermuda from east coast US ports like Philadelphia and New York for years -- was sold off by Celebrity at the end of the 1997 season.

The 36-year-old cruise liner underwent a massive $70 million refit, given a new name and began a new career in the Far East.

A fire started in the ship's engine room switchboard last Thursday. Crew attempts to extinguish the blaze with carbon dioxide "bombs'' were unsuccessful.

The ship -- en route from the Thai island of Phuket to Singapore -- began to list and capsized in calm weather six hours later.

The 1,000-plus passengers and crew were all evacuated safely by lifeboat and later picked up by Malaysian naval vessels and ferries.

The passengers came from a total of 26 countries, including the UK, the US, Australia and Japan.

Malaysian authorities battled to contain a massive oil-spill from the ship over the weekend, fearing devastation of nearby coastlines.

But by yesterday Malaysian Maritime Department officials said most of the oil had been dispersed.

A probe has been launched by the Malaysian government into the sinking of the Sun Vista .

But one theory already advanced is that water used to fight the blaze after the carbon dioxide failed made the ship unstable, causing it to heel over and sink.