Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas was involved in an accident today as the vessel was struck by a cargo ship in Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, in The Bahamas.
The accident is unfortunate as Royal Caribbean International had only recently changed the itinerary from a sea day to a day at Freeport. The Tropic Freedom cargo vessel hit the concrete pier in the port and then hit the stern of Mariner of the Seas. The cargo vessel was lodged into the stern of Mariner of the Seas.
Mariner of the Seas Hit by Container Vessel
Built in 2018, Tropic Freedom is a 3,800-gross-ton container ship, sailing under the St. Vincent & Grenadines flag. The vessel hit the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship, Mariner of the Seas, during a call in Grand Bahama.
The Royal Caribbean ship sustained minimal damage as the container vessel lodged itself into the ship. Currently, the cargo vessel has been freed from the much larger Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
No injuries have been reported and the captain of Mariner of the Seas has been keeping guests updated onboard.
According to passengers onboard, Tropic Freedom came alongside the harbor’s edge at speed, hit the concrete edge of the dock, and then crashed and lodged itself into Mariner of the Seas, which caused a lot of noise and shook the entire vessel.
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From deck seven of the cruise ship, a hole can be seen in the railing on deck five where the bridge wing of the container ship cut into Mariner of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean stated to Cruise Hive, “Today, in Freeport, The Bahamas, a cargo vessel made contact with Mariner of the Seas while the ship was docked. No one was injured on board, and Mariner experienced minimal damage. The ship will continue on its itinerary as planned. ”
Four-Night Cruise From Port Canaveral
Mariner of the Seas sailed her maiden voyage in 2003. The Voyager-class cruise ship can accommodate 3,114 passengers at double occupancy and is 139,863 gross tons. She departed Port Canaveral yesterday, April 19, and set a course to Grand Bahama.
Although the vessel had been scheduled to spend the day at sea today, Royal Caribbean had changed the itinerary only recently. The change in itinerary had come as a result of regularly scheduled ship maintenance.
With the cruise line confirming only minimal damage, the planned itinerary is set to continue as normal. No doubt the crew will be working hard to make any fixes during the voyage, especially if only cosmetic damage.
The cruise ship is scheduled for a call in Royal Caribbean’s private island resort of Perfect Day at CocoCay, followed by a day in Nassau before returning to Port Canaveral.
The following cruise for Mariner of the Seas is scheduled to sail on Saturday, April 23 from Port Canaveral, Florida. She is expected to call in Labadee, Haiti and Nassau, The Bahamas, before returning to Florida on Thursday, April 28.
