Aerial footage shows the Costa Allegra cruise ship after the engine room fire that left it powerless and drifting on the Indian Ocean.

The ship was under tow on Tuesday, heading for the Seychelles.

It has 636 passengers from 25 different nations on board.

There are also 413 crew.

The Seychelles government says it's making arrangements to transfer them.

(SOUNDBITE) SEYCHELLES GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON, SRDJANA JANOSEVIC, SAYING (English):

"The Seychelles Coast Guard has confirmed that a French purse seiner vessel reached the Costa Allegra last night and is towing the vessel to Desroches Island which is close by, so when they reach Desroches we are making arrangements for the transfer of all passengers and crew onto Desroches and then for their transfer to Mahe Island which is the main island of the Seychelles."

The ship is expected to reach Desroches island on Wednesday.

Costa Cruises which owns the vessel says no-one's been injured but there was no air conditioning or cooking facilities.

The same firm also owns the Costa Concordia that hit rocks and capsized off Italy last month, killing at least 25 people.

Paul Chapman, Reuters