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Ricky Stubbs, one of the passengers aboard, gave a play-by-play of the incident. In a report filed by The Guardian about the incident, he stated that a deafening crash echoed from the ship’s sunset bar as he and his children prepared to disembark. This was followed by a rush of people fleeing the impact and battling the fierce winds and rain. These sailings are unique, because rather than operating one cruise at a time, the round-trip sailings overlap, meaning guests embark and debark from various cruise ports while other sailings are still ongoing. For these cruises, guests are able to meet the ship in Kusadasi, Turkey; Heraklion, Crete Greece; Piraeus-Athens, Greece; or Thessaloniki, Greece.
Cruise Ship Hits Oil Tanker During Bad Storm
"A small number of people suffered minor injuries and are being treated by the ship's medical centre," a spokesman for P&O Cruises, which owns the Britannia cruise, said in a statement. The incident comes just weeks after Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 ship broke from its moorings in Italy due to strong winds this month. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Prima was also blown from its mooring ropes due to unexpectedly strong side winds in Belgium earlier this summer. To evaluate the extent of the damage, the ship will remain docked in Palma de Mallorca, offering onboard entertainment and activities to the passengers in the meantime.
How Will the Sailing be Impacted?
“Following inspections, our third-party surveyor has confirmed that one of Britannia’s lifeboats has sustained structural issues and cannot be repaired onboard. Ricky Stubbs, a passenger, said he and his children had been about to disembark when the crash happened. As of Monday morning, the ship was docked in Palma to undergo technical inspections. Passenger Ricky Stubbs said he and his children were about to disembark at the time of the crash.
Passengers on a cruise described the sheer chaos that broke out when their ship collided with an oil tanker: 'There was ... - Yahoo Canada
Passengers on a cruise described the sheer chaos that broke out when their ship collided with an oil tanker: 'There was ....
Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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“On Sunday 27 August, P&O Cruises Britannia was impacted by severe weather when alongside in Palma de Mallorca,” the spokesman said.
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The Britannia cost £473 million ($596 million) and can carry up to 3,647 passengers. The Britannia left Southampton on Aug. 18 to set sail for the Mediterranean, with stops in Cadiz and Ibiza, and was supposed to leave Mallorca on Sunday afternoon. "To allow our technical teams to carry out an assessment, Britannia will remain in Palma de Mallorca this evening, with entertainment and activities planned on board." "It was panic stations, I was bawling my eyes out," she said, per the outlet. "We went out onto our balcony and could see debris in the ocean and all the damage to the side of the boat and our lifeboat." The £473m ship, which entered service in 2015, is the flagship of the P&O fleet.
Cruise Ship Collides With Oil Tanker, Multiple Injuries Reported
The ship is currently homeported from Southampton, offering a variety of Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Scandinavia, and Norwegian Fjord itineraries. In mid-October, Britannia is scheduled to reposition to Bridgetown, Barbados, to offer Caribbean sailings through the winter months. The BBC reported on Tuesday that 321 passengers were scheduled to fly back to Southampton.
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In July, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Prima broke free of rope moorings while docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium, also losing gangways in the incident. The current sailing is a 14-night Mediterranean cruise that departed from Southampton, UK on Friday, August 18, and has enjoyed calls on Cadiz, Cartagena, and Ibiza. Shortly after the collision, the ship’s captain ordered all guests to remain in their staterooms. He later confirmed that Britannia did suffer some damage to Deck 5, but that the ship’s structure and safety were not compromised. The ship will remain docked to allow a technical team to make an assessment of the damage, according to the statement.
Mallorca: P&O ship with thousands of Britons onboard collides with tanker - The Guardian
Mallorca: P&O ship with thousands of Britons onboard collides with tanker.
Posted: Sun, 27 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
“It’s very calm and relaxed onboard now and we are just redocking to collect the passengers whom were off the ship for the duration of the incident,” he said. Another passenger named Mark Beckwith told WalesOnline that the captain did “an amazingly calm job” with the crew on board. A video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the view from port as the Britannia's moorings appeared to snap while the ship was pulled away by winds. “We are so sorry but these extraordinary circumstances mean that the ship is required, by maritime regulation, to return to Southampton with a reduced number of people onboard. In December 2019, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Legend and Carnival Glory had a bump while docking in Cozumel, with sudden wind gusts and strong water currents blamed. Just a few weeks before, Cunard’s ocean liner Queen Mary 2 had a narrow escape after breaking free from its moorings in the Italian port of Civitavecchia amid high winds.
The crew and guests promptly assisted others, including those who suffered minor injuries from flying debris or falls. There were also no injuries reported by guests and crew onboard or from onlookers on the shore, which meant passengers were still able to enjoy their port day as planned. Kusadasi is a bucket-list destination for many, as it is the gateway to exploring Ephesus, one of the best-preserved ancient Greco-Roman cities in the world. Log into YouTube and you’ll find any number of videos depicting graphic scenes of cruise ships colliding with each other, or crunching into the unforgiving walls of concrete docks. Some collisions occasionally hit the headlines too, such as when MSC Opera crashed into a much smaller riverboat in Venice in 2019 – fuelling passionate calls for the city to clamp down on such unwieldy visitors.
“On Sunday, August 27, P&O Cruises Britannia was involved in a weather-related incident while alongside in Palma de Mallorca. A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical centre. To allow our technical teams to make an assessment Britannia will remain alongside in Palma de Mallorca tonight with onboard entertainment and activities scheduled,” a spokesperson for P&O Cruises said in a statement.
Some damage also occurred to at least one of Britannia‘s lifeboats, and guests onboard the ship have reported seeing debris in the water nearby. “A loud crash came from the bar and the door flung open with people running in. Within seconds there was more crashing followed by chaos as people were trying to escape the onslaught of wind and rain.
Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines. We make sure cruisers are fully prepared for their cruise vacation with tips on ships and ports.Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world. During the sudden storm, steady winds of approximately 23 miles per hour (37 kilometers per hour) were recorded in the area, with wind gusts as high as 59 mph (95 kph). The Britannia has capacity to carry 3,647 passengers and it was “close to capacity” Sunday when a storm came brewing off the coast of Palma de Mallorca. Gale-force winds snapped the $601.9 million vessel’s mooring and propelled it into the tanker.
“A few individuals have sustained minor injuries and are currently being attended to by our onboard medical team,” said the spokesperson. Poor weather and gusty winds can be a hazard to docked cruise ships, causing lines to break and ships to drift. The P&O Cruises ship Britannia broke free from mooring lines on Sunday morning, August 27, 2023 while docked in Palma de Mallorca, Spain during a sudden storm.
Cruise ship crews are always alert to weather conditions whether a ship is at sea or docked, and are able to closely monitor potentially dangerous conditions. When weather turns foul, gangways will be closed briefly to ensure guests’ safety just in case of these unfortunate incidents. After the incident, Britannia anchored offshore for several hours to wait out the weather and ensure the ship could dock again safely. Later in the evening, the ship was docked once again with tug assistance and guests were able to return. There were no significant injuries reported and no evacuations were ordered from the vessel. Both ships suffered what appears to be minor damage, including paint scrapes and scuffs as well as bent or broken railings.
On Sunday, the cruise ship P&O Britannia collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Palma in Mallorca after breaking free from the dock during a severe storm. Several passengers were injured during the weather-related incident to brought hurricane-force winds to the island. The strong winds took passengers and crew unprepared, causing injuries from falls or flying debris. The captain asked all guests to return to their rooms until further instructions and gave updates every 10 to 15 minutes, according to a report by the Guardian. "A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical centre," a P&O representative previously told Insider in a statement.
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