Grandeur Damaged In Collision; RCI Releases Statement

[ACA_Port Authority]

This happened a few hours ago, I have the pictuers but I can't post them on this thread, I'll post them on my pics page.


April 21, 2005



Grandeur Damaged In Collision; RCI Releases Statement

Royal Caribbean has at last released an official statement on Grandeur of the Seas' collision with a pier in Costa Maya; the most notable element is that "Grandeur of the Seas' seven-night sailing scheduled to depart on Saturday, April 23, will be delayed in its departure." Earlier rumors swirling about indicated that Saturday's voyage would be cancelled. However, stay tuned -- anything can happen at this point.

From the statement:

"Royal Caribbean International's Grandeur of the Seas struck the pier in Costa Maya, Mexico, at approximately 1 p.m. (E.S.T.) Wednesday, while the ship was docking in 15-knot winds and a 3-knot current, which contributed to the incident. All guests and crew members are completely safe, and none were injured in the incident. The ship has a football-shaped puncture in the bow, on its starboard side, that is approximately 42 feet long and five feet wide at its widest point. The puncture is in the first deck, approximately five feet above the waterline.

"The ship is safely docked and otherwise fully operational with all amenities. Royal Caribbean immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard and other authorities regarding the incident and is fully assisting in their investigations.

"A team of technical experts, including regulatory authorities, have arrived at the ship. Their full evaluation of repairs, including the amount of time needed to complete them in Costa Maya, is expected at approximately 6 p.m. (E.S.T.) today. Based on all the information now available, Royal Caribbean is currently making contingency plans to assist guests in returning to New Orleans by either Saturday or Sunday with complimentary flight arrangements -- should the ship be unable to return to New Orleans this weekend. If that were the case, guests who have additional vacation time are welcome stay onboard and return with the ship.

"The Grandeur of the Seas' seven-night sailing scheduled to depart on Saturday, April 23, will be delayed in its departure. Guests booked on that sailing are being contacted now. Details regarding its departure date and time will be available later this evening on Royal Caribbean's Webs site -- www.royalcaribbean.com.

"The ship ... was scheduled to be at sea today and Friday before returning to New Orleans on Saturday."

In the meantime, onboard Grandeur of the Seas, reports that "man, that hole is BIG, on the first level. The Mexican police are forbidding people to take pictures ... I have no idea why (but we still got a few). When we returned to the ship this evening, you could see through the hole into the ship and people inside.

"Actually I can't see how the ship suffered this much damage when the pier is just a bit crumpled, concrete falling off right at the end, and we of course weren't going fast at all. Captain says the 15-knot winds and the 3-knot headwind did it for us. Oh well."

 

[mmouse37]

Is that you in the 1st pic at the end...in the orange shirt??? Someone posted the same pics on another thread.

Wasn't sure if it that was you or if you took the pics...

 

[Magic_Fan_Bruce]

Even moving very slowly, 74,000 tons is a lot of momentum and hard to stop.

Photos

Nobody should ever complain about the Captains discussion to skip Castaway Cay, or any other port due to unfavorable conditions.

 

[allears]

Even moving very slowly, 74,000 tons is a lot of momentum and hard to stop.

Photos

Nobody should ever complain about the Captains discussion to skip Castaway Cay, or any other port due to unfavorable conditions.

I agree, but I'm sure people will! This should serve as a good example of the less that obvious conditions that can lead to significant problems.

 

[tecdavidt]

Well, now all know why winds and currents make docking impossible at Castaway Cay. My husband saw the photos and said, ''hey, the next time I bump our slip I won't feel so bad! I bet that captain is writing he resume'." At least no one was hurt, it could have been worse. Kathy

 

[ACA_Port Authority]

Is that you in the 1st pic at the end...in the orange shirt??? Someone posted the same pics on another thread.

Wasn't sure if it that was you or if you took the pics...

These pics where from a passenger and they where posted on another board, note that even when the pilot is assisting the maneuver, the Captain is responsible: he can never hand over command of the vessel.

I believe the pilot was over confident he could maneuver in 15 knot winds, here's how berthing a vessel works.

The pilot calls out the command, the Captain then has to decide if his "order" is the appropriate decision, then he relays the "order" to the helmsmen, thus never loosing his responsibility.

I emailed the operationg manager in Costa Maya, but he must have his hands full with this situation, until the Coast Guard, an executive from the company and other sea authorities say it's sea worthy, they can't sail....this is a port's nightmare for something like this to happen.

We had a near miss with a Cargo ship and the Arcadia a few years ago, the cargo ship was pushed by the wind and was less than 1 foot away from the hull of the Arcadia, the cargo ship collided on the pier and had a big dent on the bow. fortunately we contained the news, since it was early in the morning.

Ship collisions happen more often than people know about, usually just dents and only the Port and the ships officials handle the situation. All I can say is welcome to the computer era, news gets around so fast your head pins.

 

[WDWLVR]

Even moving very slowly, 74,000 tons is a lot of momentum and hard to stop.

Photos

Nobody should ever complain about the Captains discussion to skip Castaway Cay, or any other port due to unfavorable conditions.

Amen to that!

 

[logan1_2000]

For all the blowhards who think they know how to pilot a huge ship and ***** & moan about missing castaway cay or any other port, let them take a look here at the photos. On the April 2nd MAgic we docked but it was a rainout, and i was surprised we docked. On the Jan 16th Wonder it had been a windy week all week and i was surprised we docked then, too. No problem if docks get missed to avoid scenes like that.

And I have thought of taking a cruise on the Grandeur, too, because I travel to new orleans and it is the same mileage trip there as it is from ATL to Port Canaveral, but DW would not like the ship because i think it does not have a basketball court.

 

[musicgirl]

I have always understood how hard it is to dock, but here is a thought.....

What if they tried to dock at CC, had a little problem like this and all aboard were stranded at CC while they fixed it?????

That is actually kind of a happy thought.

 

[mommasita]

I have always understood how hard it is to dock, but here is a thought.....

What if they tried to dock at CC, had a little problem like this and all aboard were stranded at CC while they fixed it?????

That is actually kind of a happy thought.

Except after dark... Apparently they have a creepy crawler problem, and that is one reason why there are no overnight stays, and we leave the island quite early...

 

[two-foxes]

I agree, but I'm sure people will! This should serve as a good example of the less that obvious conditions that can lead to significant problems.

 

[markºoº]

One of DCL's ships getting damaged and stuck at CC for an extended period of time would cause a big issue because only one large ship can dock at a time. The other ship would be forced to skip CC.

At least Costa Maya can dock ships on both sides of their dock so other cruise ships could still use the port.

As a side note, there really is not a lot to do at Costa Maya. Our 8/28/04 Western Magic cruise went there since we skipped Key West. The beach and shopping areas are small and I believe the pools are salt water. I would get bored pretty fast being stuck there for several days. Guess you would just have to pretend they were "at sea" days.

 

[desperate housewife]

Except after dark... Apparently they have a creepy crawler problem, and that is one reason why there are no overnight stays, and we leave the island quite early...

Yikes - what is a creepy crawler?

I agree - no complaints if the Captain thinks docking is a risk - even if it happens to be CC.