Key Aspects:
- A reported gas leak near Southampton’s dock gates forced evacuations and major traffic disruptions at the cruise port.
- Two major cruise ships were in port and impacted by the disruptions.
- The leak turned out to be a false alarm but delayed Queen Anne and Costa Diadema.
Thousands of cruise passengers heading to Southampton, UK, Monday, May 11, 2026, found themselves stuck in traffic, stranded at hotels, or scrambling to reach terminals after a reported gas leak shut down access roads near one of Europe’s busiest cruise ports.
The disruption unfolded near Dock Gates 4 and 5 just as Cunard Line’s Queen Anne was disembarking passengers from an 11-night Norwegian Fjords cruise and preparing to embark guests for an 18-night Mediterranean voyage.
At the same time, Costa Cruises’ Costa Diadema was in Southampton during a scheduled full-day port call as part of a 9-night sailing from Lisbon to Kiel, Germany.
Emergency services rushed to the docks after reports of a gas leak prompted evacuations and road closures around the terminals.
Local media reported that access routes near the ports were blocked by police while firefighters, ambulance crews, and and gas workers from SNG responded to the scene.
A spokesperson from Southern Gas Networks (SGN) told local media, “There was a call for a smell of gas that resulted in a brief evacuation of the gates, but it was soon discovered to be a false alarm, and the gates were reopened shortly after.”
The spokesperson also revealed there are no gas mains connections near the gates.
Still, the shutdown quickly created major logistical problems around Southampton’s cruise terminals as embarkation passengers, disembarking guests, taxis, buses, and cruise transfers all attempted to move through the same congested roads.
The Daily Echo described scenes of “chaos” around the port while traffic backed up across the city center and surrounding dock areas, even though the gates reopened by 9:03 a.m.
Another media outlet also reported that approximately 100 cruise passengers became stranded at a nearby hotel during the disruption with would-be cruise guests kept waiting for hours before being allowed to leave.
Cruise Departures Delayed at Southampton
The disruption ultimately affected operations for the 3,000-passenger Queen Anne and more than 4,000-guest Costa Diadema as Southampton worked to recover from hours of congestion and restricted terminal access.
Queen Anne had returned to its Southampton homeport early Monday morning after completing a cruise that included calls in Hamburg, Germany, and Alesund, Molde, Trondheim, and Sjkolden, Norway.
The 113,000-gross-ton ship was preparing to receive its next passengers for a cruise scheduled to depart at 4:00 p.m. local time. The departure was pushed back to 8:30 p.m. as embarkation operations struggled through the traffic gridlock surrounding the Ocean Cruise Terminal.
Meanwhile, the 133,000-gross-ton Costa Diadema, had arrived around 6:30 a.m. local time for a visit to Southampton during its voyage to Germany. The vessel was originally scheduled to depart Southampton at 7:00 p.m. but that was delayed by over an hour.
Both ships are now en route to their next destinations with Queen Anne’s next stop in Cartagena, Spain, still scheduled for May 15, and Costa Diadema on track for its May 12 arrival in Zeebrugge.
