cruise ship that crashed 2019

2 Carnival Cruise ships collide in Cozumel, Mexico; at least 6 people injured

Two Carnival Cruise ships collided at the port of Cozumel, Mexico, on Friday morning, causing damage to at least one of the ships and at least six reported injuries, according to the company.

"Carnival Glory was maneuvering to dock when it made contact with Carnival Legend which was already alongside," a spokesperson for the company wrote in an emailed statement. "We are assessing the damage but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship."

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Initially, there was only one reported minor injury of a Carnival Glory guest that occurred when a group was being evacuated from the dining room of one ship's decks 3 and 4. But the cruise line said that since its preliminary evaluation, six guests with minor injuries "have presented themselves to the Carnival Glory medical center for evaluation."

Makenna Morris, 21, from Salt Lake City, Utah, said that she was on the fourth deck of the Carnival Legend taking pictures when she noticed the Carnival Glory moving toward her ship. She said that as the Carnival Glory approached, she could hear passengers screaming as they prepared for the impact.

"I started hearing people yelling and screaming on the Royal Caribbean," Morris told NBC News. "That’s when I heard sounds of cracking and glass breaking.”

Morris also recalled hearing what sounded like scraping as the Carnival Glory made impact with the Carnival Legend.

“They ran into us and I was like 'holy crap'," Morris said. “The whole dining hall caved in and shattered.”

I hope everyone is ok on the Carnival Glory after it crashed into the Carnival Legend. @CarnivalCruise #MayYouAllBeSafe #Travel #cruise #FridayThoughts https://t.co/60eZJm8gGG — Journey with Josh 🩺 (@JheadRN) December 20, 2019

Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line and the largest one globally, according to the trade publication Cruise Market Watch.

Eight ships from various cruise lines were scheduled to dock at the Port of Cozumel on Friday. The Carnival Glory, which left its home port in New Orleans on Sunday, was scheduled to dock in the port at 10 a.m Friday, while the Carnival Legend was scheduled to dock at 8 a.m.

The ships' passengers have been advised to spend their day ashore in Cozumel.

Gwen Aviles is a trending news and culture reporter for NBC News. 

clock This article was published more than  4 years ago

One Carnival cruise ship crashed into another as horrified passengers watched in Cozumel

A Carnival cruise ship trying to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, crashed into an already-docked ship at the port Friday morning, leaving six passengers injured.

According to Carnival Cruise Line spokesman Vance Gulliksen, Carnival Glory was trying to dock when it “made contact” with the smaller Carnival Legend, which was already docked. He referred to the crash as, technically, an “allision,” a nautical term meaning one of the objects was not moving when it was struck. It wasn’t immediately clear how the accident happened.

Experts said they expected investigators to look at several factors: what the mooring plan was for the Carnival Glory, what role wind and other weather might have played, whether the ship’s engines had any issues that could have affected propulsion and what was going on at the ship’s controls.

“I cannot say with certainty here, but my hunch is that these ships are frequent callers on this port,” says Kyle McAvoy, a retired Coast Guard captain and marine safety expert with consulting firm Robson Forensic. “It’s probably something that is done very often by these two ships at this specific port and so it may be somewhat of a routine. So what went wrong this time? That’s what this investigation will have to figure out.”

Several passengers on the Carnival ships and the nearby Oasis of the Seas — which the Glory appeared to veer uncomfortably close to — posted videos and photos of the incident and the aftermath. A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International, which owns Oasis of the Seas, said the ship was not impacted and did not have any damage.

One woman on the Carnival Legend narrated as she watched the moving ship veer toward the nearby Oasis of the Seas.

“Stop, stop, stop,” said the woman, whose user name on Twitter is Maddie Morris. “Oh my gosh, this is bad.”

Video of the crash of the #CarnivalLegend and #carnivalglory and near miss of the #royalcaribbean boat @NBCNews @CNN @KSL5TV @fox13 @foxnewsalert @abcnews @abc4utah pic.twitter.com/T3a3aWSPZO — Maddie Morris (@maddie__morris) December 20, 2019

“We are assessing the damage, but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship,” Gulliksen said in an email. “We have advised guests from both ships to enjoy their day ashore in Cozumel.”

Early Friday, he said one passenger on Carnival Glory suffered a minor injury when he or she was part of a group of people evacuated from the dining room on the third and fourth decks of that ship. Later in the afternoon, Carnival sent an updated statement saying six passengers had gone to the ship’s medical center with minor injuries. Photos on social media show a crumpled exterior and several broken windows.

“Someone could have died!” one man said as he recorded video from the pier.

Crazy from Carnival Glory - crashed into Carnival Legend as it attempted to dock in Cozumel pic.twitter.com/qJffndnHf6 — christian maxey (@cmaxeyy) December 20, 2019

Jordan Moseley, who was a passenger on Carnival Legend, said in a Twitter message that he was eating breakfast on the ship when the crash happened.

“All of a sudden we felt the ship rock to one side and then back into place,” he said. “A few minutes later, the cruise director announced that the Carnival Glory had crashed into our ship while docking due to the high winds and rough ocean conditions in Cozumel.”

Christian Maxey, 20, was in his cabin a couple decks below the point of impact when he felt “a little bit of an impact.” He said the ocean had been rough so far on the cruise, even forcing the ship to miss a stop in Grand Cayman.

“I don’t think people really understood that we had actually hit something, given that our weather had been rocky," he says.

He said the first acknowledgement that something had happened came 45 minutes to an hour after the strike. The cruise director did not explicitly say what happened, according to Maxey.

“He said, ‘We’ve had a boo boo,’" Maxey says.

Later, the captain gave an update with more information, but still encouraged passengers to enjoy their day in Cozumel. Maxey, who was sailing with his parents, said he would probably stay near the ship to get any updates. The voyage is scheduled to end Sunday in New Orleans, and Carnival said early Friday neither ship’s itinerary would be disrupted.

“It’s been a weird cruise,” Maxey says.

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Carnival Glory sets sail after repairs from crashing into other cruise ship in Cozumel, Mexico

Following some quick repairs to damage from a Friday incident with another Carnival ship in Mexico, the Carnival Glory set sail from the Port of New Orleans Monday for a holiday cruise in the western Caribbean.

Six passengers had minor injuries Friday after  the Glory struck another ship , the Carnival Legend, at the port of Cozumel.

The Carnival Glory sustained damage to its Platinum Dining Room, but the company said none of the damage had compromised the ship's seaworthiness.

Before its next sailing, Carnival made temporary repairs to the Glory while it was in New Orleans over the weekend, including cosmetic work and weatherproofing. In a letter to passengers, Carnival said the damage would affect some assigned seatings in the dining room for this week's sailing.

Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesman, said all guests on this week's cruise would receive a one-day prorated refund and an on-board $100 credit per stateroom.

"There is no anticipated impact to the ship’s itinerary, which includes visits to Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay (Roatan) and Cozumel," Gulliksen said of this week's cruise. "Guests also have the option of disembarking the vessel and receiving a full refund."

The Glory's captain, Pero Grubjesic, said in a letter to passengers that the crash was caused by strong wind gusts and currents as the Glory was maneuvering to dock.. 

Carnival Glory cruise ship crashes into Carnival Legend

One person was lightly injured while evacuating a dining room on the massive ship named Carnival Glory, says company.

Two Carnival Corp cruise ships collided on Friday in the port of Mexico’ s Caribbean resort of Cozumel, the luxury cruise operator said, crushing the stern of a 290-metre-long (951-foot) vessel and leaving passengers stunned at the loud impact.

One person was lightly injured while evacuating a dining room on the massive ship named Carnival Glory, according to Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator. A passenger said the incident occurred during rough sea conditions.

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“Carnival Glory was maneuvering to dock when it made contact with Carnival Legend, which was already alongside,” the company said in a statement. “We are assessing the damage, but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship.”

Carnival added that the ships’ itineraries were not affected.

Civil protection authorities in Cozumel said the incident took place at around 8:30am (14:30 GMT) and that officials were investigating.

Passenger Jordan Moseley said he was eating breakfast on the docked Carnival Legend – a 294-metre-long (965-foot) ship that can hold more than 2,000 passengers – when he felt the crash.

“All of a sudden, we felt the ship rock to one side and then back into place,” Moseley told Reuters. “A few minutes later, the cruise director announced that the Carnival Glory had crashed into our ship while docking due to the high winds and rough ocean conditions in Cozumel.”

A video taken from an upper deck of Carnival Glory, which can carry nearly 3,000 passengers, shows pieces of the ship tumble onto the deck of the oncoming vessel, with some splashing into the churning water.

“Oh my God, look at that ship!” an onlooker can be heard saying in the video posted on social media.

Other images of the battered vessel show a railing along the Carnival Glory stern bent downwards at a roughly 45-degree angle, revealing a twisted and mangled ship interior.

Christopher Macijeski, who was on a third cruise ship nearby, said there was a loud boom from the impact.

“Could see it coming before it happened,” he said.

"This Is Bad": Cruise Ships Crash Into Each Other At Mexico Port

Several passengers on the carnival ships and the nearby oasis of the seas - which the glory appeared to veer uncomfortably close to - posted videos and photos of the incident and the aftermath..

Carnival Glory was trying to dock when it "made contact" with the smaller Carnival Legend (Reuters)

A Carnival cruise ship trying to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, crashed into an already-docked ship at the port Friday morning, leaving six passengers injured.

According to Carnival Cruise Line spokesman Vance Gulliksen, Carnival Glory was trying to dock when it "made contact" with the smaller Carnival Legend, which was already docked. He referred to the crash as, technically, an "allision," a nautical term meaning one of the objects was not moving when it was struck. It wasn't immediately clear how the accident happened.

Experts said they expected investigators to look at several factors: what the mooring plan was for the Carnival Glory, what role wind and other weather might have played, whether the ship's engines had any issues that could have affected propulsion and what was going on at the ship's controls.

"I cannot say with certainty here, but my hunch is that these ships are frequent callers on this port," says Kyle McAvoy, a retired Coast Guard captain and marine safety expert with consulting firm Robson Forensic. "It's probably something that is done very often by these two ships at this specific port and so it may be somewhat of a routine. So what went wrong this time? That's what this investigation will have to figure out."

Several passengers on the Carnival ships and the nearby Oasis of the Seas - which the Glory appeared to veer uncomfortably close to - posted videos and photos of the incident and the aftermath. A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International, which owns Oasis of the Seas, said the ship was not impacted and did not have any damage.

One woman on the Carnival Legend narrated as she watched the moving ship veer toward the nearby Oasis of the Seas.

Video of the crash of the #CarnivalLegend and #carnivalglory and near miss of the #royalcaribbean boat @NBCNews @CNN @KSL5TV @fox13 @foxnewsalert @abcnews @abc4utah pic.twitter.com/T3a3aWSPZO - Maddie Morris (@maddie__morris) December 20, 2019

"Stop, stop, stop," said the woman, whose user name on Twitter is Maddie Morris. "Oh my gosh, this is bad."

"We are assessing the damage, but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship," Gulliksen said in an email. "We have advised guests from both ships to enjoy their day ashore in Cozumel."

Early Friday, he said one passenger on Carnival Glory suffered a minor injury when he or she was part of a group of people evacuated from the dining room on the third and fourth decks of that ship. Later in the afternoon, Carnival sent an updated statement saying six passengers had gone to the ship's medical center with minor injuries. Photos on social media show a crumpled exterior and several broken windows.

"Someone could have died!" one man said as he recorded video from the pier.

The damage to Carnival Glory is seen after a collision with another cruise ship at Cozumel cruise port, Mexico December 20, 2019 in this image obtained from social media (Reuters)

Jordan Moseley, who was a passenger on Carnival Legend, said in a Twitter message that he was eating breakfast on the ship when the crash happened.

"All of a sudden we felt the ship rock to one side and then back into place," he said. "A few minutes later, the cruise director announced that the Carnival Glory had crashed into our ship while docking due to the high winds and rough ocean conditions in Cozumel."

So uh yeah, just witnessed a cruise ship crash in Cozumel. #carnivalglory #carnivallegend pic.twitter.com/WbtioFqVKe - Jordan Moseley (@j_moseley) December 20, 2019

Christian Maxey, 20, was in his cabin a couple decks below the point of impact when he felt "a little bit of an impact." He said the ocean had been rough so far on the cruise, even forcing the ship to miss a stop in Grand Cayman.

"I don't think people really understood that we had actually hit something, given that our weather had been rocky," he says.

He said the first acknowledgement that something had happened came 45 minutes to an hour after the strike. The cruise director did not explicitly say what happened, according to Maxey.

"He said, 'We've had a boo boo,'" Maxey says.

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Later, the captain gave an update with more information, but still encouraged passengers to enjoy their day in Cozumel. Maxey, who was sailing with his parents, said he would probably stay near the ship to get any updates. The voyage is scheduled to end Sunday in New Orleans, and Carnival said early Friday neither ship's itinerary would be disrupted.

"It's been a weird cruise," Maxey says.

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Massive Cruise Ship Crashes Into Port In Venice, Injuring At Least 5

Shannon Van Sant

The MSC Opera cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist riverboat on a busy canal in Venice, Italy. An investigation is underway into the cause of the crash. Luca Bruno/AP hide caption

The MSC Opera cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist riverboat on a busy canal in Venice, Italy. An investigation is underway into the cause of the crash.

A cruise ship crashed into a tourist boat and then into a dock in Venice, Italy, on Sunday after an engine failure.

Video posted to social media showed passengers escaping from the tourist boat and running down the dock as the cruise ship rapidly approached.

Video posted to social media showed tourists fleeing a cruise ship as it crashed into a tourist boat and dock in Venice, Italy.

The 13-deck MSC Opera rammed into the dock with its horns blaring, injuring five tourists, according to The Associated Press . Two tugboats tried to guide the cruise ship but were unable to prevent it from crashing.

Alyssa Goldfarb, public relations director for MSC Cruises, the ship's owner, told NPR:

"Earlier this morning, at around 8:30 a.m. CET, MSC Opera — while maneuvering toward Venice's VTP cruise terminals for mooring — experienced a technical issue. Albeit the ship was accompanied by two tugs, she grazed the dock at San Basilio. This also caused a collision with a river boat that was moored there. "The investigations to understand the exact causes of the events are currently in progress. Regarding these, the company is working closely with the local maritime and other authorities. "The ship has in the meantime received authorization to move to be moored at the Marittima terminal, as planned. She is now moored there and has begun passenger operations."

"When we saw the ship bearing down on us, everyone began shouting and running," said a sailor who was on the tourist boat, according to AFP . "I didn't know what to do. I got away quickly, jumping to get on shore."

"The MSC ship had an engine failure, which was immediately reported by the captain," said Davide Calderan, the head of one of the tugboats accompanying the cruise ship, according to AFP and Italian media.

"The engine was blocked, but with its thrust on, because the speed was increasing," he continued.

The MSC Opera can carry more than 2,675 passengers, and according to its sailing schedule, the ship left Venice on May 26 and traveled to Kotor, Montenegro, and to Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu in Greece before returning on Sunday to Venice.

Sunday's collision adds to growing criticism of cruise ships in Venice, where the large vessels crowd waterways, block views and create waves that risk damage to the city's buildings and infrastructure.

"What happened in the port of Venice is confirmation of what we have been saying for some time," Italy's environment minister Sergio Costa tweeted. "Cruise ships must not sail down the Giudecca. We have been working on moving them for months now ... and are nearing a solution."

Quello che è successo nel porto di #Venezia è la conferma di quello che diciamo da tempo: le #GrandiNavi non devono passare dalla Giudecca. Per questo da mesi insieme ai ministri @DaniloToninelli e @BonisoliAlberto stiamo lavorando per spostarle e siamo vicini alla soluzione — Sergio Costa (@SergioCosta_Gen) June 2, 2019

Nicola Fratoianni, a politician with the Italian Left party, tweeted that Italy's allowance of massive cruise ships contrasted with its efforts to stop rescue boats carrying migrants.

"It is truly curious that a country that tries to stop ships that have saved people at sea from entering its ports allows giant steel monsters to risk carnage in Venice," he said.

Curioso quel Paese che blocca navi che salvano vite e permette a grandi navi di attraversare #Venezia ... Situazione intollerabile. Interrogazione in Parlamento, e subito blocco passaggio navi da crociera dal canale della Giudecca #NoGrandiNaviVenezia https://t.co/eff5oAC3hj — nicola fratoianni (@NFratoianni) June 2, 2019

• nicola fratoianni
• engine failure
• tourist boat
• cruise ship

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Cruise Ship Rams Into Tourist Boat and Dock in Venice, Injuring at Least 4

By Elisabetta Povoledo

• June 2, 2019

ROME — A colossal cruise liner plowed into a smaller tour ship and a wharf on a canal in Venice on Sunday morning, injuring four people and reigniting arguments about the dangers of allowing the huge vessels to pass through the fragile lagoon city .

Footage of the crash showed the cruise liner, the approximately 900-foot-long MSC Opera , blaring its horn as it hit the wharf and crashed into the tour ship, the River Countess, which was docked at the San Basilio Terminal on the Giudecca Canal, where passengers often disembark from smaller vessels.

The accident occurred around 8:30 a.m. Videos taken from the dock showed the ship heading straight for the wharf, unable to stop, while people on the quay ran away in panic. Four people from the cruise ship were treated for light injuries, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The MSC Opera was approaching the cruise ship terminal in Venice to dock when it had a “technical problem,” the ship’s operator, MSC, said in a statement. The company said that the ship had been accompanied by two tugboats when it hit the wharf and the smaller boat at San Basilio.

Investigations were underway to “understand the exact dynamic of the facts,” the statement said, adding that the company was cooperating fully with the local authorities.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro of Venice said the accident confirmed that “it’s no longer thinkable that big ships can pass through the Giudecca Canal. We’ve been saying it for eight years,” ANSA reported. According to the agency, Mr. Brugnaro said he had spoken to the Italian infrastructure minister, adding, “Now we must urgently make sure that ships no longer pass in front of St. Mark’s.”

Venice is a popular destination for cruise ships, which sail past St. Mark’s Square and down the Giudecca Canal to dock at the cruise ship terminal. But for years, residents have raised concerns about the effects that the massive ships have had on the frail city, citing the damage caused by pollution, erosion on underwater foundations and potential crashes.

In 2017, a committee of local, provincial and national officials announced a plan to divert cruise ships along a roundabout route through an existing canal that would skirt the city altogether.

But the proposal was not put in place, with critics saying that the potential impact on the lagoon had not been sufficiently analyzed. Many say that the large ships should steer clear of the area altogether, and dock instead at cities like Trieste, farther round the coast.

The Italian coalition government, which came to power in elections a year ago, has asked for further cost-benefit studies to weigh other options.

Pino Musolino, the president of the Port of Venice, said in a statement that it was urgent to move “as quickly as possible to finally give a solution to the question of large ships in Venice, removing cruise ship traffic from the Basin of St. Mark and the Giudecca Canal.”

Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a post on Twitter on Sunday that the crash “showed that big ships must no longer pass through the Giudecca.”

“After many years of inertia, we are finally close to a definitive solution to protect both the laguna and tourism,” he added.

Giuseppe Tattara, a member of a Venetian citizens’ committee that has vociferously opposed the cruise ships, said that the collision on Sunday proved that “accidents can always happen, even with modern ships, despite the assurances of companies that say that there are no risks.”

Mr. Tattara said that had the MSC Opera crashed about 100 yards before the wharf, “the ship would have hit the older boardwalk along the canal, which “would have disintegrated.”

“The only solution is that cruise ships remain out of the lagoon,” he added.

Follow Elisabetta Povoledo on Twitter: @EPovoledo .

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Evacuation of passengers has ended as cruise ship travels to Norway port

By Eliza Mackintosh and Kendall Trammell , CNN

What we know about the Viking Sky cruise ship

Here's what we know so far about the Viking Sky cruise ship that is evacuating 1,300 passengers and crew:

• It's owned by Viking Ocean Cruises
• It was built in 2017
• It can hold maximum of 1,443 passengers and crew
• It has six engines, four diesel and two electric

Here are the phone numbers for questions about any passengers

The Joint Rescue Centre says the evacuation from the Viking Sky cruise ship is proceeding with caution.

Rescuers are facing waves of about 6-8 meters (roughly 19-26 feet) high, a spokesperson said .

If you're trying to reach someone on the ship, here are the phone numbers:

• US/AU booked guests: 1-888-889-8837
• UK booked guests: 07585 779 853 or 0208 780 7900

This is the scene onboard after a wave crashed into the ship

Passenger Ryan Flynn shared a video on Twitter showing the aftermath of a door being blown in on the Viking Sky.

The Viking Sky ship, owned by Viking Ocean Cruises, was built in 2017 and can hold 930 guests, according to the company's  website .

Norway's Red Cross is starting a "massive" operation to help evacuees

From CNN's Susanna Capelouto

Norway’s Red Cross has started a "massive" operation and mobilized all units in the region to an area close to where a cruise ship is being evacuated, a spokesperson told CNN.

The spokesperson said more than a hundred Red Cross volunteers are working with evacuees. The Red Cross has counselors and other staff available at a gym in the community of Fraena where the evacuees are being taken by helicopter.

He said volunteers are there “for a shoulder to cry on” or for “hand holding” for people from the cruise ship after the evacuations.

From there, the evacuees are being transferred to hotels in nearby towns, the spokesperson said. 

Passenger says she's been waiting almost 6 hours to be evacuated

From CNN's Kay Guerrero

Passenger Alexus Sheppard from Northern California says she has been waiting almost six hours to be evacuated. Most people were fairly calm, she said, and they were being served food and water.

Passengers are getting airlifted one by one

From CNN's Nicole Chavez

Helicopters are airlifting passengers and crew members one person at a time, and the process could continue overnight and through Sunday. 

"We can't say how long it would take," said Borghild Eldoen, a spokeswoman for the Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway.

The cruise ship was flooding as passengers waited to be evacuated

People on board the stranded cruise ship tell CNN the evacuation has been slow. Passengers have waited for hours to get off the boat as it was taking on water from the rough sea.  

"Crew is doing a good job. Evacuation is slow. Seas rough," tweeted David Hernandez, who is a passenger on the ship. "One muster station had a door blow in, injure pax and flood. Moved to midship."

Rough sea winds are making the rescue difficult

The ship is in rough seas in the Hustadvika area on the western coast of Norway. The Joint Rescue Centre said on Twitter it is working to get more than one of the ship's engines running.

Flightradar24 is tracking the helicopter rescues.

Five helicopters and a number of vessels are included in the rescue operation.

Rescuers are trying to ensure the ship stays secure and doesn't drift as they try to get the engines working again. Right now, the ship is secured with one anchor.

115 people have been rescued so far

Norwegian rescue officials said 115 passengers have so far been rescued by helicopter from a stranded Viking cruise ship off the coast of Norway.

The Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway told CNN the rescue operations will continue throughout the night and into Sunday as the ship had 1,300 people on board when it first sent a distress signal due to “engine problems in bad weather.”

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Huge cruise ship plows into dock in Venice; at least 5 injured

Updated on: June 2, 2019 / 4:36 PM EDT / AP

Venice, Italy — A towering, out-of-control cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist river boat on a busy Venice canal Sunday morning, injuring at least five tourists, officials said. The collision sparked new calls for placing restrictions on cruise ships in the famed but strained tourist city.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. local time on the Giudecca Canal, a major thoroughfare that leads to St. Mark's Square in the northeastern Italian city.

The MSC Opera cruise ship, apparently unable to stop, blared its horn as it slammed into the much smaller river boat and the dock as dozens of people run away in panic. In videos of the crash, people were seen rushing to disembark from the moored riverboat over a short gangplank, and at least two people were left caught on the walkway as the vessel was dislodged from the pier.

#Venezia #VIDEO la nave da crociera #Opera di @MSC_Crociere fuori controllo ha speronato stamattina il battello fluviale #Michelangelo e la banchina. Qualcuno ci spiegherà perché le navi che salvano vite sono sotto sequestro, mentre queste #grandinavi sono libere di far danni. pic.twitter.com/mSyhCMvvZc — Beppe Caccia (@beppecaccia) June 2, 2019

Elisabetta Pasqualin was watering plants on her terrace when she heard warning sirens and stepped out to see the crash.

"There was this huge ship in a diagonal position in the Giudecca Canal, with a tugboat near which seemed like it couldn't do anything," she said.

She described the ship "advancing slowly but inevitably towards the dock." She said "the bow of the ship crashed hard into the bank with its massive weight crushing a big piece of it. Sirens were wailing loudly; it was a very dramatic scene."

When the cruise ship rammed the river boat, she said the smaller vessel looked like it was "made of plastic or paper" rather than steel.

Local officials said five women aboard the riverboat were injured. They said one was released immediately from a hospital, while four others were advised to remain under medical care for a few days.

Earlier, medical authorities said four of the women - an American, a New Zealander and two Australians between the ages of 67 and 72 — were injured falling or trying to run away when the cruise ship rammed into the River Countess.

Venice is a tremendously popular site for both tourists and cruise ships, especially during the summer tourist season.

The cruise ship's owner, MSC Cruises, said the ship, the MSC Opera, was about to dock at a passenger terminal in Venice when it had a mechanical problem. Two tugboats guiding the cruise ship into Venice tried to stop the massive cruise ship, but they were unable to prevent it from ramming into the river boat.

"The two tugboats tried to stop the giant and then a tow cable broke, cut by the collision with the river boat," Davide Calderan, president of a tugboat association in Venice, told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Calderan said the cruise ship's engine was locked when the captain called for help.

Following the collision, calls for banning cruise ships in Venice, long a source of contention in the over-extended tourist city, were renewed.

For many, the crash served as a wake-up call. Opponents say cruise ships are out-of-scale for Venice, cause pollution, endanger the lagoon's ecosystem and a danger.

"Obviously, we've seen today that our worst fears have come true," said Jane Da Mosto, an environmental scientist and executive director of We Are Here Venice. Her group backs efforts to ban cruise ships from Venice.

"There were 111 people on the river cruise boat that the big ship crashed into. They could have all died," she said. She said the cruise ship could have plowed through the concrete embankment and "hit houses, monuments and crowds of people."

"The port authority, the government ministers, the other institutions have often tried to ridicule the resistance movement against the cruise ships, saying that an accident like this could never occur," she added. "The government shouldn't be so weak in giving in to the pressure of the lobby groups, like the cruise ship companies."

The collision came four days after a river cruise ship collided with a sightseeing boat carrying South Korean tourists in Hungary's capital, killing seven and leaving 21 others missing.

Not everyone in Venice is opposed to the cruise ships. Pasqualin, the woman who witnessed the collision, counted herself among those prior to Sunday's crash.

"I've always been positive about the ships, but I have to admit I've started to change my mind now, because this was a tragic, terrible and dramatic scene," she said.

Italian officials said the collision underscored the need to ban cruise ships from using the busy Giudecca Canal, but they stopped short of calling for a ban on cruise ships.

"Today's accident in the port of Venice proves that cruise ships shouldn't be allowed to pass down the Giudecca anymore," said Danilo Toninelli, Italy's transport minister. "After many years of inertia, we are finally close to a solution to protect both the lagoon and tourism."

The MSC Opera was built in 2004. It can carry over 2,675 passengers in 1,071 cabins. According to its sailing schedule, it left Venice on May 26 and traveled to Kotor, Montenegro, and Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu in Greece before returning Sunday to Venice.

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Cruise ship crashes into tourist boat in Venice, injuring five people

Ship strikes dock and tourist river boat on busy canal in Italian city

The mayor of Venice has said cruise ships must change their routes after a huge holiday vessel crashed into a wharf and tourist boat, injuring five people.

Luigi Brugnaro said it was no longer conceivable that cruise ships could pass through the busy Giudecca canal and called for a new route to open immediately.

A video of the crash – which happened on Sunday morning after the 13-deck MSC Opera experienced an engine failure – shows people on land fleeing as the ship scrapes along the dockside, siren blaring, before ploughing into the River Countess tourist boat.

#BREAKING : Tourists flee as cruise liner smashes into dock in Venice pic.twitter.com/DSIjHckYxk — Russian Market (@russian_market) June 2, 2019

Footage show people rushing to disembark from the moored riverboat over a short gangplank, and at least two people left caught on the walkway as the vessel was dislodged from the pier.

Elisabetta Pasqualin was watering plants on her terrace when she heard warning sirens and stepped out to see the crash.

“There was this huge ship in a diagonal position in the Giudecca Canal, with a tugboat near which seemed like it couldn’t do anything,” she said.

She described the ship “advancing slowly but inevitably towards the dock.” She said “the bow of the ship crashed hard into the bank with its massive weight crushing a big piece of it. Sirens were wailing loudly; it was a very dramatic scene.”

When the cruise ship rammed the riverboat, she said the smaller vessel looked like it was “made of plastic or paper” rather than steel.

Local officials said five women aboard the riverboat were injured. They said one was released immediately from a hospital, while four others were advised to remain under medical care for a few days.

Earlier, medical authorities said four of the women – an American, a New Zealander and two Australians between the ages of 67 and 72 – were injured falling or trying to run away when the cruise ship rammed into the River Countess.

Venice’s port authority said it was working to resolve the accident and free up the blocked canal. “But from tomorrow we need to move, all together and as quickly as possible, to resolve the cruise ship traffic problem,” said Pino Musolino of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority.

That cruise ships are allowed to pass through the Giudecca canal, a major thoroughfare that leads towards St Mark’s Square, before disgorging thousands of people in the popular tourist destination, has been a point of contention for years.

In June 2017, the No Grandi Navi (no large ships) activist group held an unofficial referendum in which Venetians voted in favour of ousting the ships from the city’s lagoon.

“We have four people bruised and one wounded … it could have been much worse,” Brugnaro tweeted . “It is no longer conceivable that big ships cross the Giudecca canal. We ask for the immediate opening of the Vittorio Emanuele [canal].”

A plan to divert large cruise ships away from St Mark’s basin and the Giudecca canal and towards the Vittorio Emanuele canal was drawn up by local authorities four years ago. “And in that time there has been no response [from the national government],” said Paola Mar, Venice tourism chief. “Our message is clear: enough, now.”

Danilo Toninelli, who became transport minister a year ago, said the government was finally close to a solution. “Today’s accident at the port of Venice shows that big ships should no longer pass through the Giudecca,” he tweeted . “After so many years of inertia, we are finally close to a definitive solution to protect both the lagoon and tourism.”

Environmentalists have long claimed that waves caused by the cruise ships have eroded the underwater supports of buildings and polluted the waters.

Sergio Costa, the environment minister, said the government was close to finding a solution. “What happened in the port of Venice is confirmation of what we have been saying for some time,” he said.

It is unclear whether the solution would mean cruise ships of all sizes being banned from the canal.

In November 2017 , Italy’s previous administration announced a plan for ships weighing more than 96,000 tonnes to instead enter the lagoon via the Malamocco canal to reach the mainland area of Marghera, where a passenger terminal would be built. Meanwhile, medium-sized vessels would go past Marghera and take the longer route through the Vittorio Emanuele canal before reaching the Marittima terminal, where cruise liners currently dock.

But if and when final government approval comes, work on the new route, which requires the dredging of canals and construction of a new port, would take an estimated four years. And while diverting the ships would better preserve the historic centre, the move will do little to address concerns about pollution.

MSC Cruises, founded in Italy in 1960, is a global line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva.

The Opera, built 15 years ago, experienced a power failure in 2011 in the Baltic, forcing 2,000 people to disembark in Stockholm rather than continuing their voyage from Southampton to St Petersburg.

Venice attracts an estimated 30 million visitors a year.

Associated Press contributed to this report

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Danube river cruise ship crashed after it was 'suddenly no longer able to maneuver,' 17 passengers injured

• A cruise ship crashed into a concrete wall along the Danube river in Austria on Friday.
• A police statement said the ship "was suddenly no longer able to maneuver."
• Eleven people were treated at the hospital and another six suffered less serious injuries.

A Bulgarian cruise ship carrying over 140 passengers crashed into a concrete wall along the Danube river in Austria.

The incident occurred late on Friday in the northern Austrian town of Aschach an der Donau, local police said Saturday.

Eleven people were injured and taken to hospital as a result of the crash. Six others suffered less serious injuries that did not require hospital treatment.

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The ship had set off from Passau, a German city on the Austrian border. A police statement said that as the ship was leaving a lock chamber further down the river, "the ship was suddenly no longer able to maneuver," and its right bow and left aft crashed into the lock walls.

The second-in-command of the ship, who had been at the helm during the crash, "pressed the emergency switch, whereupon the electronics started up again." He was then able to steer the ship out of the lock.

The ship was later docked at the quay wall and emergency services were notified. The ship was able to continue its journey toward Linz, Austria.

Earlier this week, a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, collapsing a section of the 1.6-mile-long structure. The bodies of two construction workers were found after the collision, and four more workers are missing and presumed dead.

Citing the container ship's recovered data recorder, officials said the power went out on the Dali for just one minute and three seconds as it approached the bridge, Sky News reported, but that was enough for the collision to become unavoidable.

In 2019, a cruise boat hit and sank a smaller boat near Budapest, Hungary, killing 25 South Korean tourists and two crew members. The captain was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the accident.

The Danube is the second-largest river in Europe, flowing from the Black Forest in Germany south into the Black Sea near Romania and Ukraine.

Correction: April 1, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the year of the Danube ship crash in Hungary. It was in 2019, not 2023.

Watch: One of Europe's deadliest shipwrecks leaves hundreds missing

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Venice cruise ship crash in 2019 was caused by captain’s incompetence

Contrary to assurances, the msc opera was sailing under its own power, reports the navy.

The River Countess tourist boat was hit by the MSC Opera cruise ship in Venice last year © Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

"It couldn’t possibly happen here; it’s a gross exaggeration; it’s fake news." This is not US President Donald Trump talking about coronavirus (Covid-19) early last month, but the state official responsible for the historic buildings of Venice persuading the Venetians that they have nothing to fear from the vast cruise ships.

Renata Codello, then Soprintendente per i Beni architettonici e il Paesaggio di Venezia, was captured on video in 2008 assuring an interviewer that these could not possibly damage the city because they entered with their propellors switched off and pulled by tugs.

This is untrue, reveals the report lodged with the public prosecutor by three Italian navy experts late last month regarding the incident on 2 June 2019, when the MSC Opera crashed into the bankside near the port of Venice, damaging a river cruiser and causing four elderly tourists to be slightly hurt.

The navy’s report lays the blame squarely on the Opera’s captain and crew, who, it says, were inadequately trained to deal with an emergency. The ship sailed under its own power into Venice and turned left into the Giudecca Canal, when its steering failed. This was communicated to the bridge, but not by the captain to the pilots who came aboard shortly afterwards. The captain failed to press the button that would have stopped the engines instantaneously, so the tugs were unable to control the ship’s trajectory, the hawser to one of them snapping.

Although the Opera is one of the smaller of the 600 cruise ships that entered Venice last year, it is still 275m long—nearly the length of three football fields—and weighs 66,000 tonnes, so its capacity to ram through the fragile historic fabric of Venice is great. Fortunately, it struck the bankside at an oblique angle and, at the time, Toto Bergamo Rossi of Venetian Heritage, a non-profit organisation specialising in conservation projects, told The Art Newspaper , “This bankside near the port is recent and of cement and therefore strong enough to resist the impact. But the banksides of San Marco, San Giorgio or Punta della Dogana are not; it could have been a disaster,”

Then, on 6 July 2019, the even larger, 93,000 tonne, cruise ship Costa Deliziosa was nearly blown onto the Riva Sette Martiri near San Marco. But despite these near calamities, no progress has been made on the various schemes to keep the cruise ships out of the centre of Venice.

The mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, is an entrepreneur who aims to keep the cruise ships with their 1.8m passengers a year tying up at the port inside Venice, so he is ignoring the 2014 Unesco requirement to keep all big ships right out of the lagoon. He wants them to enter the lagoon at the Malamocco opening instead of the Lido’s, as at present; the currently disused channel, the Vittorio Emanuele III, would be deep-dredged to allow them then to enter Venice at the port end of the city. But this would cause ecological damage to the lagoon, as well as risk a collision between a cruise ship and the petrol tankers that already use this entrance.

There is a better plan, which already has the approval of the environment agency and satisfies the 2014 requirement that the ships not enter the lagoon. It is to moor them at a floating port that would be built at San Nicolò outside the Lido opening. Eco-friendly, electric, wake-less catamarans would then ferry passengers 300 at a time to various parts of Venice, thereby reducing congestion at the present access points to the town.

Unfortunately, the 2019 Unesco World Heritage Committee meeting in Baku gave its approval to the Malamocco solution, going against its own earlier recommendation. But rapid action is unlikely. This plan still needs to be assessed for its potential environmental impact, and coronavirus has put Italy’s public expenditure on hold, so the necessary infrastructure work would be delayed. In the meanwhile, coronavirus has deeply shaken the public’s faith in the cruise industry.

Cruise And Ferry

Norwegian safety regulators argue Viking Sky should have never sailed prior to 2019 drama

Even before it lost power, cruise ship was missing one of its generators

The Viking Cruises ship that nearly crashed into the central Norway coastline in 2019 should have never set sail to begin with, safety investigators found.

In its report on the 47,800-gt Viking Sky’s power loss that left it drifting in the waters roughly 80 km (50 miles) north-east of Alesund, the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA) said the incident had the potential to be one of the worst maritime disasters of modern times.

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Norwegian safety body criticizes cruise ship that nearly ran aground in 2019 storm

FILE - The cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway, Sunday March 24, 2019, after it issued a mayday call following engine problems in heavy seas off Norway’s western coast. A cruise ship carrying more than 1,370 people set sail along Norway’s often wild western coast despite storm warnings, forcing a major evacuation by helicopter, should never have left harbor, Norwegian officials said Tuesday, March 19, 2024, adding it could have developed into “the worst disasters at sea in modern times.” (Svein Ove Ekornesvag/NTB scanpix via AP, File)

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A cruise ship at the center of a dramatic evacuation off north Norway five years ago should never have left port because it was not up to safety standards, officials said Tuesday, adding that it could have developed into one of the worst disasters at sea in modern times.

In a report, the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority upbraided the Viking Sky, saying it was ”a ship’s length from running aground.”

The ship left the northern city of Tromsoe carrying almost 1,400 people, despite storm warnings. It was headed for Stavanger in southern Norway when it had engine problems amid a storm on March 23, 2019, and issued a mayday call.

The ship anchored in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocks in an area known for shipwrecks. Passengers saw a large wave crashing through glass doors and knocking people across the floor of an area where they had been instructed to gather.

Nearly 480 passengers were winched off the ship by helicopter despite high winds in a daring rescue operation . The captain then decided to halt the evacuation, and about 900 people were still on board when the ship limped into the Norwegian port of Molde on its own engines.

Dozens of people were injured during the ship’s harrowing ordeal, including 36 who were admitted to hospitals.

Norwegian authorities immediately launched a probe into the accident, which concluded Tuesday that the ship was unprepared to sail in rough seas.

“The accident was caused by insufficient lubricating oil in all of the operating diesel generators’ lubricating oil sump tanks, in combination with pitching and rolling in rough seas,” investigators wrote. “The investigation has identified operational, technical, and organisational safety issues that in different ways contributed to the blackout.”

“As Viking Sky did not comply with the applicable safety standards, it should not have departed Tromsoe under the prevailing circumstances,” the report said.

There was no immediate reaction from operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

Out-of-control 700ft cruise ship crunches into dock at Turkish port

This is the moment a 700ft cruise ship crunched into a dock at a Turkish port after desperately trying to slow down. 

The Celestyal Journey cruise ship was making a routine arrival into the port in Kusadasi, Turkey last week when it hit the concrete pier with its bow bulb.

The crew miscalculated the speed and approached the pier too quickly, resulting in the collision, Cruise Hive reported.

Members of the vessel's 597-person crew reportedly lowered the anchor in a bid to slow the approach, but despite their efforts the ship still crashed into the pier.

The collision caused only minimal damage to the ship and pier. No injuries were reported onboard or on the shore.

The Celestyal Journey struck a pier at Kusadasi Cruise Port on Monday last week at 12pm local time while crew were trying to dock.

Passengers were still able to enjoy their day in Kusadasi, one of the most well-preserved Greco-Roman cities in the world, as planned, according to Cruise Hive. 

The port, which has eight berths for large ships, is the most popular cruise port in Turkey. Officials say the incident has not negatively impacted operations. 

Celestyal Cruises, which operates the vessel and two other ships, did not have to alter any routes following the incident.

The Celestyal Journey entered service in 1994 and initially sailed for Holland America Line as Ryndam. Celestyal Cruises acquired the cruise ship last year.

The cruise liner has 630 cabins, including 149 that feature balconies, and offers guests access to seven exclusive restaurants, and eight bars and lounges, Haber7.com reported. 

Celestyal Journey is currently sailing seven-night cruises in the Aegean Sea region until late October 2024. 

However, unlike a typical closed-loop route, the Celestyal Journey's round-trip sailings overlap, allowing guests to embark and debark in Kusadasi, as well as various cities in Greece.

Travellers can start their voyage in Heraklion, Crete Greece; Piraeus-Athens, Greece; or Thessaloniki, Greece. 

The ship's final journey in the Aegean Sea will embark on October 19 this year. It will be followed by a 14-day repositioning cruise from Athens to Doha, Qatar. 

Once it arrives in its new homeport in Doha, the Celestyal Journey will offer seven-night roundtrip sailings to the United Arab Emirates. 

MailOnline has approached Celestyal Cruises for comment.