Within the past week, three cruise ships have broken free from their secured moorings in port, disrupting thousands of passengers.
The chaos started with Norwegian Epic on Friday, May 30. While visiting Catania, Sicily, a powerful wind gust struck the vessel's port side around 1:00pm. Consequently, the mooring lines began snapping one at a time.
"We heard a very loud boom, and then there was another loud noise and screams," said passenger Brian Koning in a video shared on Facebook, "All those large orange diameter ropes started snapping about every 15 seconds."
Then, the ship's stern drifted from the dock, and a female guest fell into the water from the gangway. Moments later, her husband jumped into the water after her. According to Norwegian's statement given to ABC News, on-duty crew members assisted the passengers and saw that they were assessed by the medical team.
"It was determined that they sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital for further examination and treatment," they said.
However, thousands were left stranded in Catania, as Norwegian Epic was forced to move out to sea until conditions improved. The unexpected occurrence caused the embarkation checkpoint for passengers to close.
The following day, a letter was delivered to guests explaining the incident. According to the note, Norwegian Epic's mooring lines parted after three bollards on the pier broke during "unexpectedly strong gale-force winds."
"After this incident, the Harbor Master ordered us to leave the port to wait offshore until the wind had calmed down,” the letter continued.
Additionally, passengers were given $100 in onboard credit per stateroom, as well as a 10% future cruise credit.
Passengers on the Norwegian Epic have complained about poor communication from the cruise line during the incident
Jamie Cisco and her daughter, Grace, were on the 10-night Mediterranean cruise to celebrate Cisco's 50th birthday. While ashore in Catania, they ventured to the beach. However, the winds were so strong that they couldn't place their blankets on the ground.
When they returned to port, they were confused as to why their ship was gone. That's when they learned about the situation through a Facebook group.
Cisco told USA TODAY that she and her daughter walked back into town, finally spotting a Norwegian employee around 5:30pm. Instead of giving them any helpful updates, they were simply told to return two hours later. To make matters worse, they didn't provide water to the stranded guests, and there was very little shade in town.
Cisco saw Norwegian Epic approaching the port around 7:15pm, and when they got permission to reopen the gangway, she said it was a "free-for-all" with people "pushing and shoving" to get back onboard.
Unfortunately, the delayed departure from Catania caused Norwegian to have to cancel the next port of call — just an hour and a half before the ship was supposed to arrive in Naples, Italy.
The same day, Westerdam broke free of its moorings while in Ketchikan, Alaska
Holland America Line's Westerdam experienced a gangway mishap during a cruise to Alaska on Friday, May 30. The ship was docked in Ketchikan when high winds caused the gangway to collapse.
"Earlier, right after Joe and I got on the Westerdam after visiting Ketchikan, a 50 knot gust broke some of the moorings, and the gangway fell. It was left hanging on the side of the ship," shared a passenger on Facebook, "[No one] was on it at the time it fell, THANK GOODNESS!"
She continued, adding that two tugboats had to help hold the vessel in place while cranes retrieved the fallen gangway. Photos of the incident show the gangway hanging onto the ship for dear life, horizontal like a ladder!
One user on Cruise Critic mentioned that he heard a crew member say two of the ship's mooring lines broke, which caused the Westerdam to drift away from the dock.
The day before, another Holland America ship canceled its stop in Ketchikan due to high winds.
Most recently, MSC Seascape battled strong winds in the Bahamas
One day after passengers aboard Norwegian Epic and Westerdam were disrupted by strong winds, guests sailing to the Bahamas on MSC Seascape faced a similar situation.
MSC Seascape was docked at the cruise line's private island in the Bahamas when a sudden squall with high winds caused the massive vessel to break free from its moorings.
A TikTok shared by @cruising.is.life shows the ship drifting slightly away from the dock as the mooring lines clearly snapped and fell into the water. The loud crack of the mooring lines snapping in the clip is startling!
Lots of passengers were stranded on the dock as the gangway fell into the water during the unexpected incident. One guest was injured, but the crew's immediate response helped minimize serious consequences.
Because the vessel wasn't scheduled to depart Ocean Cay until 8:00pm, the 3-night itinerary wasn't impacted. Still, it must have been frustrating to be stuck ashore, especially as the weather took a turn for the worse with heavy rains.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she traveled frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas during her freshman year of high school. Having sailed on over 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, Margaritaville at Sea, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
