Oh Gilligan!!!
At least when the Dream (or was it the Fantasy
) backed into the "dock" in Nassau last year, it didn't sink like the one in PR did.
(Mary Ann or Ginger?)
True. Thought they did render it unusable for a while. But if your going to do it, do it right.
In this case, and I went back and watched it again and read the report on it, this is my take on what happened.
For a reason or reasons that have not been disclosed, the Epic was having propulsion issues which required her to make an itin change. When she entered the harbor, she was accompanied by 2 tugs to assist. On the bridge should have been, the Capt, the local pilot, who would help guide the ship thru the channel to the dock, (every ship gets one coming and going from any port) and a tug pilot. The tug pilot should have been coordinating with the Capt and the pilot to help maneuver the ship in. The Capt or Acting Capt, should have been on the port wing controls as she neared the pier. As she came in, the bow started to drift towards the 1st bollard pier that was totaled.Its anyones guess if it was the wind or drift. After she hit the pier, the bow thrusters kicked in, and started to push the bow out. The minute they started to get a bite and hold the ship, they were shut down. The bow, then started to drift in again and the thrusters were turned back on,, the ship made contact a second time, totaling the 2nd pier, and stared to get close to the 3rd. Again the thrusters got shutdown, but then quicker this time turned back on to hold her off the3rd pier. You can see in the video how many time and how long they were on for.
1 of several things happened. Or a combination.
The power issue could have affected the bow thrusters, shutting them down at the worst possible time.
Someone wasn't paying attention on the bridge, and allowed her to get too close before applying power to the bow thrusters. As far as I can tell, her stern thrusters were never vectored to port to help keep her out.
The wind could have over powered the available ships power, which lead to the impacts.
With that said, the tug pilot should have been screaming long before for the tugs to get the ship into a stabil position. If not the Capt, should have been yelling at the tug pilot for help, knowing he was having power issues. The local pilot would have been out of the equation at that point, other to say were getting real close to the pier, which the bow and stern look out should have been saying also. But theres at least 4 people that should have seen they were getting close and at least 2 that should have been able to rectify it.
Her approach, reminds me a lot of the Century ship that took out the piers in Alaska. In which case if they did try that, they should have known better then to try it on a ship that has issues.