On Tuesday morning, a docked Carnival Cruise Line ship collided with a pier while docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica due to powerful waves and strong winds.
Timeline of events
The crew of Carnival Magic was well aware of the bad weather conditions in the area. They arrived in Ocho Rios before the scheduled time, hoping to avoid the inclement weather.
After some passengers disembarked the vessel to explore the area, strong winds and waves caused the ship to collide with the pier. Although the dock and Carnival Magic suffered visible damages, no one was injured during the collision.
The incident sent the vessel back out to sea for safety, later returning to pick up passengers left behind.
After the crash, guests onshore watched as the vessel quickly sailed away from them to maintain a safe distance from the pier. A netizen who claimed to be one of those passengers wrote online, “We were all in line at customs waiting to get back on, then watched our boat sail away… Now we’re stuck on buses waiting to be taken to the other pier.”
Docking at another terminal
Eventually, the Dream-class vessel went to another nearby cargo terminal in Ocho Rios to collect the stranded passengers. Following the incident, the ship’s captain assured guests that “the ship is safe and all hotel services are operational.”
Carnival told Cruise Radio, “…strong winds and swells caused the pier fender to collapse under pressure, and the ship made contact with the pier.” The full extent of the damage has yet to be confirmed.
In the meantime, Carnival Magic’s trip to Grand Cayman has been postponed so that it can remain in Ochos Rios for inspection until 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
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The entire statement from Carnival Cruise Line:
| Tuesday, Feb. 6 @ 8:45 P.M. — “Carnival Magic was involved in an incident while in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on Tuesday morning, Feb. 6 when strong winds and swells caused the pier fender to collapse under pressure, and the ship made contact with the pier. The ship was alongside at 8:10 a.m. and the incident occurred at 11:00 a.m. There were no injuries, and all the ship’s services remained operational. The ship left the area for the safety of everyone on board and later docked at another nearby pier so that guests who went ashore Tuesday morning could rejoin the ship. The guests who were ashore at the time were taken care of by the Carnival team and shore excursion partners. Given the weather conditions in the region, Carnival Magic will remain in Ocho Rios on Tuesday night. Its visit to Grand Cayman is cancelled for Wednesday.” |
