After more than a year’s inactivity, San Juan’s Pier 3 West cruise terminal on Puerto Rico is now back up and running. San Juan Cruise Port announced its return to service after more than 13 months shut down.
This followed a collision and damage to a mooring structure by the MSC Cruises ship Meraviglia in April 2024.
The ship received extensive repairs but was held up for months awaiting final safety checks and approval to open by the US Coast Guard.
Affected Pier Mostly Used by Royal Caribbean’s Larger Ships
Pier 3 is the only dock able to accommodate the largest cruise ships, preventing cruise lines like Royal Caribbean from making calls in San Juan.
The closure has hit the cruise line hardest, forcing it to revise its scheduled itineraries multiple times.
Other cruise lines have been less impacted, as they operate smaller ships in the region that can be handled at San Juan’s other terminals.
Royal Caribbean was forced to cancel several scheduled cruise calls at the last minute at San Juan due to uncertainty over when the US Coast Guard would sign off for final approval to reopen the pier pending safety checks.
“Pier 3 West has been officially restored, after completing a rigorous structural assessment in accordance with US Coast Guard requirements.
San Juan Cruise Port announced in a Facebook post, “The restriction is lifted, and the full use of the facility is enabled. “SAN
“We deeply thank all the technical teams, consultants, and agencies who made this long-awaited breakthrough possible,” Port General Manager Clarivette Diaz added. “It has been a long road, but our priority has always been to meet all the requirements established by the regulatory agencies and ensure the safe arrival of cruise ships,”
Royal Caribbean’s larger Oasis and Icon-class ships have almost exclusively used the pier.
The port authority recently filed a lawsuit against MSC Cruises for negligence and against UK-based insurer Hartford Underwriting Agency Ltd for denying its insurance claim.
The complaint also says MSC’s insurance provider failed to fulfill its indemnity obligations.
