Carnival Cruise Ship Collides with Dock in St. Kitts

[54clones]

Scheduled to sail on the Miracle 3/12. This will be my 8th cruise and I have always been so impressed with how these massive ships are able to be docked without incident, time and again. People need to remember there was a large wind gust during the docking (surprised this doesn't happen more often!). If you have ever docked a boat, no matter the size, it is not easy. Having said all this...hope the necessary/permanent repairs can be completed quickly!!!

[Cuizer2]

I know I wouldn't want the job.

 

happy cruzin....

 

Why not? The job pays well and you get to play with boats all day. What more could you ask for? :)

[frednsb]

According to the St. Kitts media report, wind gust were up to 37 knots at the time of the incident. this has a lot to do with the crash!

[Savoia]

These type of things happen from time to time. A few years ago ship got a gash in Costa Maya, and a Princess ship got one in I believe in Vancouver.

 

four collisions in six months is not "time to time". There is an underlining issue going on here. Who are these pilots? are they that familiar with the dockage? is there any correlation to Carnival's well known method of using the cheapest dockage possible to disembark (which is usually cargo berths), are the pilots familiar with these? Is the policy of being on time and under budget playing a role in these dangerous events?

 

This isn't just bad luck...there is a connection to how these ships are operated nad how often they hot things.

[Canuk Cruisers]

I hope the people unboard have some pictures to show us when they return.

 

You may be surprised, or not, that this "incident" is not on the Carnival website under their NEWS section, like it never happened. If you look closely at the pictures in the independant article you will notice the blue thing on the pier side, which is actually a blue tarp used to hide the damage that your not supposed to see. http://www.winnfm.com/news2.asp?NewsID=4117

 

I would be curious to see if any passengers were stopped from taking pictures by crew members on the pier and what reason they may have been given. I suspect there are a lot of things that happen on or around Cruise ships that are surpressed in the interest of good PR.

 

On our last Cruise, a passenger died of what I overheard to be a Heart Attack on a snorkelling adventure and there were "rumours" of other deaths and incidents on board that same sailing but they are just not talked about.

[Savoia]

You may be surprised, or not, that this "incident" is not on the Carnival website under their News section, like it never happened.

 

Yes..just like the Carnival Destiny's problems just started.."last month".

[Cuizer2]

four collisions in six months is not "time to time". There is an underlining issue going on here. Who are these pilots? are they that familiar with the dockage? is there any correlation to Carnival's well known method of using the cheapest dockage possible to disembark (which is usually cargo berths), are the pilots familiar with these? Is the policy of being on time and under budget playing a role in these dangerous events?

 

This isn't just bad luck...there is a connection to how these ships are operated nad how often they hot things.

 

Of course the pilots are familiar with the cargo docks. Do you think the pilots only work on cruise ships? The pilots dock a lot more cargo ships than they do cruise ships. I've been on five Carnival cruises. Carnival docks in the same place the other cruise lines do.

[broberts]

four collisions in six months is not "time to time". There is an underlining issue going on here. Who are these pilots? are they that familiar with the dockage? is there any correlation to Carnival's well known method of using the cheapest dockage possible to disembark (which is usually cargo berths), are the pilots familiar with these? Is the policy of being on time and under budget playing a role in these dangerous events?

 

This isn't just bad luck...there is a connection to how these ships are operated nad how often they hot things.

 

Four fender benders in more than 2,500 dockings and more than 1.5 million miles is hardly statistically significant.

 

Can you post anything to backup your assertion that Carnival uses the "cheapest dockage possible". I have certainly never heard anything of the sort. Nor do I see any correlation between docking cost and chance of accidental contact.

 

Harbor pilots are licensed by the harbor authority. It would be irresponsible and stupid for harbor authorities to have improperly trained pilots. Damaged docks is not something that any harbor authority wants.

 

I am not trying to mitigate the seriousness of these incidents but your diatribe against Carnival is hardly useful.

[lissa_jean]

New is a relative term. Just like the other crew members, Captains rotate on/off ships for "vacation" time.

 

These type of things happen from time to time. A few years ago ship got a gash in Costa Maya, and a Princess ship got one in I believe in Vancouver.

 

yes i know new is a relative term, that is why i put it in quotation marks... i just found the whole thing to be a little ironic. a new captain comes on and during his first sail this happens.. thats all .

[TCF]

Every time we get on a cruise ship it seems I learn a little more about how crews work and maneuver the giants called cruise ships.

 

For example....a year or so ago we did a cruise on a Holland America ship....that is not a large ship as cruise ships go these days...but when we moved from the Atlantic Ocean into the mouth of the Amazon River we had to wait until high tide and we had to just "crawl" along over the huge sand bar at the mouth of the river....a sand bar that moves around day by day and the Captains never really know where it is on any given day.(A ship that had gone over the bar a day or two before us reported that the depth sounder indicated a six foot clearance between the bottom of the hull and the sandbar) When we got there we had to move so slowly because the faster a ship of that size goes the deeper it sits in the water....the movement pulls it down in the water ....and we had only a two foot clearance between the ship bottom and the sand bar! Who knew that is how one of those big ships behave when underway? (An NCL ship ran aground on the same bar a couple of years ago and was hung up for a couple days!)

 

Ten days later on the same cruise we were getting ready to dock at Grand Turk. I went to have my shower and when I came out we were moving at full speed out to sea. The Captain explained that on the way in to the dock he was being pushed around by high wind gusts....he put the pilot back on his boat and head out to sea rather than risk having a wind gust ram the ship into the pier as he got closer. The exact same thing that apparently happened yesterday to the Miracle.

 

Leaving Topolabampo on the Sea of Cortez on our last cruise we pulled out of our berth and crawled out past a cargo ship that had docked in front of us during the day. The Captain explained that he went so slowly because had be had gone faster he would have created a vacuum like effect and sucked the cargo ship away from the pier and slammed it into the side of our ship!

 

There is a heck of a lot more to pushing one of the modern cruise ships around than the majority of us have any idea about! It amazes me that there aren't more of these mishaps.

[broberts]

. . .

There is a heck of a lot more to pushing one of the modern cruise ships around than the majority of us have any idea about! It amazes me that there aren't more of these mishaps.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Savoia]

Four fender benders in more than 2,500 dockings and more than 1.5 million miles is hardly statistically significant

 

But you leave out the fact this is the fourth major collision in 6 months with Carnival. Each time Carnival says it was someone/something else's fault..apparently now weather played a role in this collision. And I reiterate..this is the same department at Carnival who said the Destiny's problems just started last month. Which everyone knows is a blatant lie.

 

There is an underlining issue here...when there is so much information and news coverage online to simply gloss over these incidents is not productive.

[jessemon]

But you leave out the fact this is the fourth major collision in 6 months with Carnival. Each time Carnival says it was someone/something else's fault..apparently now weather played a role in this collision. And I reiterate..this is the same department at Carnival who said the Destiny's problems just started last month. Which everyone knows is a blatant lie.

 

There is an underlining issue here...when there is so much information and news coverage online to simply gloss over these incidents is not productive.

I remember RCCL's Grandeur of the Seas putting a 30 plus foot gash in it's side in Costa Maya. Oops said RCCL... winds and tides caused it.....

All cruise lines have accidents.....

[jessemon]

Every time we get on a cruise ship it seems I learn a little more about how crews work and maneuver the giants called cruise ships.

 

For example....a year or so ago we did a cruise on a Holland America ship....that is not a large ship as cruise ships go these days...but when we moved from the Atlantic Ocean into the mouth of the Amazon River we had to wait until high tide and we had to just "crawl" along over the huge sand bar at the mouth of the river....a sand bar that moves around day by day and the Captains never really know where it is on any given day.(A ship that had gone over the bar a day or two before us reported that the depth sounder indicated a six foot clearance between the bottom of the hull and the sandbar) When we got there we had to move so slowly because the faster a ship of that size goes the deeper it sits in the water....the movement pulls it down in the water ....and we had only a two foot clearance between the ship bottom and the sand bar! Who knew that is how one of those big ships behave when underway? (An NCL ship ran aground on the same bar a couple of years ago and was hung up for a couple days!)

 

Ten days later on the same cruise we were getting ready to dock at Grand Turk. I went to have my shower and when I came out we were moving at full speed out to sea. The Captain explained that on the way in to the dock he was being pushed around by high wind gusts....he put the pilot back on his boat and head out to sea rather than risk having a wind gust ram the ship into the pier as he got closer. The exact same thing that apparently happened yesterday to the Miracle.

 

Leaving Topolabampo on the Sea of Cortez on our last cruise we pulled out of our berth and crawled out past a cargo ship that had docked in front of us during the day. The Captain explained that he went so slowly because had be had gone faster he would have created a vacuum like effect and sucked the cargo ship away from the pier and slammed it into the side of our ship!

 

There is a heck of a lot more to pushing one of the modern cruise ships around than the majority of us have any idea about! It amazes me that there aren't more of these mishaps.

Yep on the wind....I have a car and a van. I drive over the Sunshine Skyway bridge in higher winds in my car, no problem. In the same conditions in the van....it's a fight. All that wind againts the fltter higher side of the van is a killer. Officials at times won't even let high profile vehicles (vans included) go over the bridge.....

That being said can you imagine having 35 to 40 mph gusts hitting the side of the huge ships.....Talk about pushing something.....

[mickeyd13]

four collisions in six months is not "time to time". There is an underlining issue going on here. Who are these pilots? are they that familiar with the dockage? is there any correlation to Carnival's well known method of using the cheapest dockage possible to disembark (which is usually cargo berths), are the pilots familiar with these? Is the policy of being on time and under budget playing a role in these dangerous events?

 

This isn't just bad luck...there is a connection to how these ships are operated nad how often they hot things.

 

What are you talking about, I'd like to see you dock a canoe in a 37 mile an hour wind.

[Michylicious]

Updates

 

http://www.winnfm.com/news2.asp?NewsID=4119

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3662

[Savoia]

What are you talking about, I'd like to see you dock a canoe in a 37 mile an hour wind.

 

And I'd like to see the weather reports, position/movement read outs, Lloyd's report, voyage report up to the moment of the collision and the staff personal incident reports. Four collisions in six months and blaming it all on the weather..publicly anyway..is geting hard to believe. Don't forget..this is the same company who released the statement that Carnival Destiny's issues "started last month".

[futaba951]

And I'd like to see the weather reports, position/movement read outs, Lloyd's report, voyage report up to the moment of the collision and the staff personal incident reports. Four collisions in six months and blaming it all on the weather..publicly anyway..is geting hard to believe. Don't forget..this is the same company who released the statement that Carnival Destiny's issues "started last month".

 

 

Good luck with your crusade. I'm sure they'll cobble together all the documentation and get it right over to you. Do come back with full report when you have completed your investigation.

[Shrub]

LOL@futaba951

[broberts]

Updates

 

http://www.winnfm.com/news2.asp?NewsID=4119

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3662

 

A very pretty and unusual picture of Miracle at the bottom of the first link.

[Firefighterhoop]

This is the 4th Carnival Collision in 3 months! First the Legend Vs the Enchantment of the Seas.

 

Then, the Splendor Vs. the Radiance of the Seas

 

Then, Splendor Vs. A Small Concrete Dock

 

Then, This one.

 

 

Also from having the privledge of being on a bridge while exiting a port, the pilot gives advice on currents, etc, but the captain is in the bridge giving the command.

[dan40]

What is happening ? ? ? :confused: All these collisions, etc. I've never ever heard of ships colliding with anything until just recently.

 

 

On an Alaska cruise many years ago. We were docked way past sailing time waiting for a glacier fly in tour that got fogged in and had to be bussed back. So we were hours late leaving. Pleasure and fishing boats had anchored outboard of the ship. So the ship had to back down the dock before it could swing out and sail away. But the dock wasn't straight. As we backed down we made contact with it. A wooden dock. 12X12 pieces were snapping like toothpicks. As the ship went into a warehouse area, a large segment of chain-link fence separating the commercial and public areas went into the drink. Then a forklift went for a midnight swim. All told we destroyed at least 50 feet of dock. Then we cleared, brought the bow out and sailed away! Nert port we looked at the hull. Lots of dents and scraped paint, no hole. Have no idea what the repercussions were for the Cap.

[frednsb]

We have the freedom to find conspiracies at evry incident;

we believe in Jack Bauer;

we have crusie critic that allows everybody to voice conspiracy theories;

Remeinds me of the Red Scare!!!

[boco5]

Just off the Miracle. The ship docked this morning at 9:15. The accident was only a slight inconvenience. It did give us the opportunity to have dinner on the island, which was great. The ship operated as if it was at sea. The casino and shops opened at 3 p.m. We departed the island about 7:30 a.m.

 

At the past guests party Captain Volpe indicated he didn't relinquis control to the pilot. He actually was quite funny about the incident. It was really not a problem for any of us aboard. I was actually hoping for another beach day. As you can imagine, the rumors were really flying on cockleshell beach and on the ship and at the various bars near the dock.

 

It was really a great cruise.

gotta go getting ready to head to the airport and back to reality,

[lds26]

Thanks for the update! So glad that the ship is ok! We board her later this year! Hope to hear a review!