Norwegian Escape passengers to return by air to Miami; ship stays in port for assessment

Dolores

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Norwegian Cruise Line decided that the Norwegian Escape passengers return by air to Miami. The ship ran aground when leaving Taino Bay, Puerto Plata port for St. Thomas on 14 March 2022. The ship eventually was unstuck and returned to Taino Bay port. Yet NCL decided the ship will remain docked at the Taino Bay until completing a full assessment of the ship. Earlier, it had been reported that the ship would leave on Wednesday afternoon for St. Thomas.

The ship ran aground at around 5pm on Monday, 14 March 2022 when reportedly high winds pushed it outside the channel leading to the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Passengers were allowed a second day of touring in Puerto Plata.

A Taino Bay port press release says that the tourists would leave the country by air bound for Florida. “The Port of Taino Bay reiterates its collaboration with the authorities of the...

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CristoRey

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Ongoing fiasco. With multiple threads. Winds? Human error? No mention of deeper dredging needed (?)
Back in the day mods used to merge threads now adays it's not uncommon to have two or three running simultaneously.
 
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zoomzx11

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Equipped with thrusters and wind information is readily available.
No such thing as very localized winds push this modern vessel aground.
Guy misjudged the channel and hit the bank.
Good to see them pull it out of service for check up.
 

Ecoman1949

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Equipped with thrusters and wind information is readily available.
No such thing as very localized winds push this modern vessel aground.
Guy misjudged the channel and hit the bank.
Good to see them pull it out of service for check up.
Maybe but those beasts are so high and long, the sides are one massive sail. Doesn’t take much wind to affect their course. Could be a combination of human error and a freak wind gust. Some diving/salvage firm is going to get a sweet cost plus damage survey contract. The best deal is a Lloyds Open Form No Cure-No Pay contract. It gives divers/salvors a claim against the value of the vessel. I doubt if they will get one in this case. The vessel is afloat and intact.

I’ve worked on many oil spills over the years from grounded vessels. I always pitied the captain, seeing him surrounded by legal reps for the shipping line, the ships insurers, Coast Guard ship safety inspectors, survey and salvage reps. Big money changes hands during these incidents.

At least he doesn’t have to cope with the extra burden of an oil release. The US Coast Guard regulations are much more stringent now. Most vessels of a specific size have double bottoms to prevent spillage, reduce their insurance costs, and operate in US waters. Canadian Coast Guard regulations weren’t as stringent. Most vessels damaged crossing the North Atlantic would head for a Canadian East coast port for damage assessment and repairs because they knew they would be denied entry into a US port.

The channel entrance is a concern for this monsters. If a lawsuit is filed by the ships owner’s claiming the port is even partially libel, I hope the port has good lawyers. These things take years to settle.
 

MariaRubia

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I can't believe that they just refunded the cruise and gave no compensation as such. Normally when a cruise line cancels mid cruise they give a fair bit extra on top.
 

slowmo

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The headline should read Norwegian Passengers Escape. Years ago I witnessed a ship intentionally run aground because the captain didn't want to go to sea. Works every time.
 
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Ecoman1949

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The headline should read Norwegian Passengers Escape. Years ago I witnessed a ship intentionally run aground because the captain didn't want to go to sea. Works every time.

The most recent example of cruise ship human error was the Costa Concordia grounding near the Tuscany coast. The Captain deviated from his course because his girlfriend wanted to getter better pictures of the coastal towns. He was convicted of manslaughter and got 16 years in jail. He left the ship before everyone was evacuated.
 

AlaPlaya

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The channel entrance is a concern for this monsters. If a lawsuit is filed by the ships owner’s claiming the port is even partially libel, I hope the port has good lawyers. These things take years to settle.
*Liable, not libel. Most cases take years to settle, not only maritime ones, which is a good thing--it keeps lawyers in business.
 
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tee

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The most recent example of cruise ship human error was the Costa Concordia grounding near the Tuscany coast. The Captain deviated from his course because his girlfriend wanted to getter better pictures of the coastal towns. He was convicted of manslaughter and got 16 years in jail. He left the ship before everyone was evacuated.
I worked on Costa Cruises for 5 years and I knew people onboard the Concordia, I knew someone that passed away and the very last person that as taken off the ship, an officer was a friend of mine. He had been helping passengers off the ship and he returned inside to go and find more survivors. As he went back inside the ship listed and he slipped, broke his leg and became trapped. The water was rising and there was nothing that he could do but wait. Thankfully he was rescued and eventually he was airlifted off the ship. This is him in the photo.
1647866829381.png
 

Ecoman1949

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*Liable, not libel. Most cases take years to settle, not only maritime ones, which is a good thing--it keeps lawyers in business.
Last project I worked on was a sunken oil barge. The government intervened and did the salvage. It too five years to settle with the barge owners. The barge owners argued they could have done the job for half the government cost. In the end the government settled for 25 cents on the dollar. A few lawyers got a nice chunk of change. Maritime law is an interesting area of expertise.
 

AlaPlaya

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Last project I worked on was a sunken oil barge. The government intervened and did the salvage. It too five years to settle with the barge owners. The barge owners argued they could have done the job for half the government cost. In the end the government settled for 25 cents on the dollar. A few lawyers got a nice chunk of change. Maritime law is an interesting area of expertise.
Yeah, I concur. It was always my academic interest.