While disembarking her cruise ship in Sicily, a Norwegian Cruise Line passenger fell into the water when strong winds caused the ship to break free from its moorings. More than 3,600 passengers were stranded ashore for hours following the incident.
On 24 May, the Norwegian Epic departed from Civitavecchia and was set to make a 10-day cruise with stops in Italy, Greece, Malta, and France. Some days later, on 30 May, the Norwegian Cruise Line ship was moored in the port of Catania in Sicily. However, strong gusts of wind of up to 72 kilometres per hour caused the ship to break free from its moorings and thus separate itself from the pier.
@_thequalifiedcaptain_ Pretty wild. Two mooring bollards ripped clean off the bulkhead while the Norwegian Epic was docked in Sicily. The ship drifted off the pier, and two people on the gangway fell into the water. Everyone onboard was told to evacuate and waited over six hours while the situation was handled. Scary stuff. #qualified #yikes #sketch #itllbuffout #force #thatsashitloadofpower #doink #wapow #norwegiancruise #sicilly #nojoke #saturdaysarefortheboaters #haveagreatday ♬ original sound – The Qualified Captain Shop
At that moment, one of the ship’s passengers was disembarking. When the moorings broke, this caused the female traveller to fall into the water. As she hit her head while doing so, her husband reportedly jumped in after her to make sure she was safe.
“On duty crew members were able to immediately assist the guest from the water and see that they were evaluated by the medical team. It was determined that they sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital for further examination and treatment,” a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson told USA Today.
Disembarkation and embarkation halted
The incident caused Norwegian Cruise Line to stop all disembarkation and embarkation until the wind had gone down. According to one of the passengers who shared his experience online, Brian Koning, this went on for seven hours until the moorings had been replaced and the ship was eventually able to return to port in the evening.
Still, according to Koning, there was no communication from anyone from Norwegian Cruise Line. In his statement, he says people were getting irritated and left with little to no drinks and food. However, according to the cruise line itself, they did everything they could to make the situation as safe and pleasant as possible.
“During this interruption, our crew were actively attending to our guests until they were able to re-embark the ship. As always the safety of our guests and crew is our top priority,” the spokesperson added.
In previous years, strong winds have been known to cause issues on cruise ships. At the start of 2024, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Magic ship hit a pier during severe winds in Jamaica and in November 2024, an unexpected wind gust caused glass bottles and furniture to go flying in a Royal Caribbean ship.
