Britannia broke her lines

[Thejuggler]

Local paper regurgitating sensational nonsense!

 

It 'crashed' after 'hurtling' into an oil tanker.

[Angel57]

5 minutes ago, Thejuggler said:

Local paper regurgitating sensational nonsense!

 

It 'crashed' after 'hurtling' into an oil tanker.

It’ll be on a “holidays from hell” before too long!

 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Captain has announced we are to move berth at 6.30 a.m (tomorrow) back to our original berth as Port Authorities want this berth back ( during  mid afternoon they wanted the ship to berth back at our original terminal but that would have meant us all being bussed back so I guess Captain told them in no uncertain terms what he thought of that idea). Palma Port not covered themselves in glory this weekend as yesterday they didn’t tell Captain that they wanted to prioritise a departing Ferry which resulted in us having to circle in the bay in a holding pattern for an hour. Captain wasn’t too happy about that. I get the feeling that there is no love lost between P&O and Palma Port. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by HalifaxYorksCruiser

[SteveH2508]

44 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I'm sure she could take on enough in Palma.   Wonder if it was crew that were injured.  It's so like what happened to us in Civitaveccia.  We didn't hit anything, but the gangway fell in the water as the lines snapped and then we were held with tugs.  Strange weather!

This sounds very like what happened to Ambassador Ambience in Cherbourg at Easter. Lines ripped the metal mooring thingy out of the berth, gangway fell into the sea, tugs used to hold the ship against the berth overnight. No one hurt BTW.

[molecrochip]

1 hour ago, SteveH2508 said:

This sounds very like what happened to Ambassador Ambience in Cherbourg at Easter. Lines ripped the metal mooring thingy out of the berth, gangway fell into the sea, tugs used to hold the ship against the berth overnight. No one hurt BTW.

This was literal rope snap. I’ve now seen the video and it confirms. Interestingly the person videoing knew exactly what was going to happen as he was backing away.

[heatherb1958]

The call sign with RCI for an impending collision either by the ship or too the ship is Echo Echo Echo.

For those of you onboard right now did you hear a call sign over the PA or was it just the blast of the horn ? ..Enquiring minds need to know for future reference ....   

Thinking about it don't think we have  heard call signs on P&O not even for medical which is Alpha  Alpha  . 

[molecrochip]

28 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

The call sign with RCI for an impending collision either by the ship or too the ship is Echo Echo Echo.

For those of you onboard right now did you hear a call sign over the PA or was it just the blast of the horn ? ..Enquiring minds need to know for future reference ....   

Thinking about it don't think we have  heard call signs on P&O not even for medical which is Alpha  Alpha  . 

P&O use plain English for Medical calls given out in full.

[Selbourne]

26 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

Thinking about it don't think we have  heard call signs on P&O not even for medical which is Alpha  Alpha  . 

There was a medical emergency when we were on Iona last week. From memory the announcement was “This is the Bridge. Medical Response Team to deck 18 Sun Deck”. That was repeated but no code words used. 

[molecrochip]

It’s understandable some won’t want to continue and instead fly home. A team are already en route from Southampton to assist.

[molecrochip]

Just now, Selbourne said:

There was a medical emergency when we were on Iona last week. From memory the announcement was “This is the Bridge. Medical Response Team to deck 18 Sun Deck”. That was repeated but no code words used. 

If it’s a heart attack and that time critical, it’s followed by the reason, deck x, zone y, port/starboard side.

 

Leave no ambiguity of where assistance is required.

 

An officer also attends to dispel ‘tourists’.

[Scirocco Breeze]

I'm glad everyone here made it safely back on board. I saw the dramatic headlines and chose not to click, thank goodness for good sources of information!

 

And on that note, please can someone explain to me how those tiny little tugs can push and manoeuvre a massive bloody cruise ship? I don't get the physics...

[2BACRUISER]

Got this from a friend on board. 

Quote "We were enjoying a coffee and delicious cake in an excellent bakery in Palma. We were watching the rain pouring down outside. A severe storm caused our ship, the Britannia, to lose its moorings and hit a tanker 😳 We only became aware when we tried to return to the ship, and it had gone! It was in the middle of the bay, assessing the damage. It was four hours before we were allowed back on board. We should have left Palma at 6pm, heading for Gibraltar, but the captain has announced we are staying here tonight. Us Brits are a stoic bunch 😉 hubby offered his 'damage control' services, but they were politely declined 😆 Several hours ago some sad Welsh person had been communicating with Wales Online (since shared with several other media) and has created some dramatic saga about big bangs, floating debris, and the likelihood that Britannia will never sail again 🙄 They wished to remain anonymous! I'm not surprised. I would be mortified if I was Welsh. Since getting back on board, we have spoken to a couple of perfectly reasonable people who give a less dramatic version. Palma is a lovely place so we don't mind spending more time here, but would be disappointed if we miss Gibraltar. Palma suffered a lot of damage from the storm including trees ripped out by their roots, windows blown out, and roof materials flying about. A number of people from the ship had to go to hospital with cuts from flying glass when windows in one of the terminals were shattered. But no-one died. Drama over" 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Morning all. We are now berthed back at our original berth. Awaiting an update from the bridge. Weather today a lot cooler with light winds and partly cloudy. All I would add at this point is that on Saturday the weather forecast for Majorca on Sunday was for high winds and heavy rain and so I am not sure it was a great idea to stay in Palma. 

[yorkshirephil]

45 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

 All I would add at this point is that on Saturday the weather forecast for Majorca on Sunday was for high winds and heavy rain and so I am not sure it was a great idea to stay in Palma. 

In hindsight maybe not but I could have imagined the uproar if the ship had not docked. We missed the Isle of Mull recently where the weather was forecast to be a bit wild and some people were still moaning, and that was a tender port.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

8 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

In hindsight maybe not but I could have imagined the uproar if the ship had not docked. We missed the Isle of Mull recently where the weather was forecast to be a bit wild and some people were still moaning, and that was a tender port.

The difference was we had already docked  on Saturday afternoon and could have left Saturday night. The weather to the South West was forecast to be fine. There did not seem to be much to be gained by staying on Sunday in view of the forecast. 

[Josy1953]

11 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

In hindsight maybe not but I could have imagined the uproar if the ship had not docked. We missed the Isle of Mull recently where the weather was forecast to be a bit wild and some people were still moaning, and that was a tender port.

Some people just like to moan. 

I think that most regular cruisers will have experienced missed ports and now just go with the flow.  We were once bussed from Cannes to Nice because the sea had become too rough off Cannes to continue tendering.

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Some people just like to moan. 

I think that most regular cruisers will have experienced missed ports and now just go with the flow.  We were once bussed from Cannes to Nice because the sea had become too rough off Cannes to continue tendering.

We were once bussed from Monaco to cannes. We viewed it as an extra, free, excursion. Moaning ......never .🤣

[JFM334]

10am and still no word about what’s going on. Not letting people off but clearly not sailing anywhere either… so?? 

[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, JFM334 said:

10am and still no word about what’s going on. Not letting people off but clearly not sailing anywhere either… so?? 

Buffets open😊

 

I'm sure lots of safety checks etc will be going on, hopefully with a view to sailing to Gibraltar, hence why not letting you off. 

Andy 

[Angel57]

52 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

The difference was we had already docked  on Saturday afternoon and could have left Saturday night. The weather to the South West was forecast to be fine. There did not seem to be much to be gained by staying on Sunday in view of the forecast. 

Let’s face it, if you’d left early people would have moaned and by staying there are moans.
Before this event, I would have thought that during a storm the ship would always be safer tied up alongside, but obviously not yesterday!
I hope you soon get an announcement as to what is happening as the lack of info is what will understandably wind everyone up.

[BigAl94]

Possibly need to reduce passenger numbers in light of reduced lifeboat capacity? Some may be flown home.

[kalos]

Possibly the captain and chief engineer are at this very moment trawling this forum for ideas of what they should do next 😉😜😀

[Megabear2]

The western Med area is still under a weather watch for heavy rain and high winds until the end of today, including the Balearics. Safety being the main issue no doubt this has to be monitored.

[nosapphire]

Just now, BigAl94 said:

Possibly need to reduce passenger numbers in light of reduced lifeboat capacity? Some may be flown home.

Can't see that happening. The number of liferatfts allow for one side of the ship to be pretty much unuseable and still get everybody off. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the emergency capacity is the same as the tender capacity, and don't forget the liferafts are not just the big ones used for tendering. Although if the itinerary has to be changed too much to allow for repairs, then the entire cruise may get cut short.

In the (rare) instances when there has been a drama at sea or in port, invariably weather related (those mooring lines do go off with a bang when they snap) it leaves me feeling safer, rather than anxious, because it immediately becomes apparent how well trained and competent the officers and crew are to handle an emergency.

 

 

[TigerB]

10 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Possibly need to reduce passenger numbers in light of reduced lifeboat capacity? Some may be flown home.

 

From @molecrochip yesterday:

 

' Do remember, there is surplus lifeboat / inflatable capacity so no need to be concerned. '