Nearly 4,500 passengers and crew on board a stranded cruise ship are facing more misery as food supplies run low and the vessel is without air conditioning or hot water.

What began as a seven-day cruise to the picturesque Mexican Riviera stopped early on Tuesday when an engine room fire cut power to the 952ft Carnival Splendor and set it adrift off Mexico's Pacific coast.

No-one was hurt in the fire and US Navy helicopters are ferrying supplies, including boxes of crab meat, croissants and Spam, to the stricken ship.Mexican tugboats are rushing out to the vessel to begin towing it 150 miles to the port of Ensenada, about 50 miles south of the US-Mexico border. The Splendor could reach the port by early on Thursday.The Splendor, which left Long Beach, California, on Sunday, was 200 miles south of San Diego at the time of the engine fire, according to Carnival Cruise Lines. It began drifting about 55 miles offshore.The 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members were not hurt and the fire was put out in the generator's compartment, but the ship has no air conditioning, hot water, mobile phone or internet service.After the fire, passengers were first asked to move from their cabins to the ship's upper deck, but they were eventually allowed to go back to their rooms. The ship's auxiliary power allowed for toilets and cold running water.