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Oooops, just hit the dock in Ketchikan (Several Threads Merged)

Phxazzcruisers

By Phxazzcruisers,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Cruising-Snowbird

Cruising-Snowbird

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The bottom line is that the Captain is responsible for the ship and where it goes. If the wind was strong enough that the thrusters could not control the sideways motion, the Captain should have called for tugs or bypassed the port. It remains to be seen what the penalties will be for the Captain from Celebrity.

 

This happened to us on a cruise going into St Kitts a couple years ago on the Legend of the Seas. There was about a 40-50 mph wind blowing into the side of the ship. The Captain tried to dock two times and could not maintain adequate control of the ship. He took the ship back out of the harbor and bypassed the port.

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dallas16

dallas16

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Norwegian Pearl was docked in that berth before Celebrity Infinity. When I looked at the Norwegian webcam (doing research for my cruise later this year) the weather seemed quite wet in Ketchikan. The pearl however docked fine and left the port on time. I'm not sure what happened with the Infinity whether it tried to dock too fast or whether the weather had deteriorated during the day. Hopefully the damage to the cruise pier is fixed soon,

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Coming into Ketchikan and it was very windy. Tight space and very very windy, we hit the dock and did some damage. Sitting here now, waiting for local authorities to investigate before we can finally dock........

 

Wow, :D

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dodger1964

dodger1964

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Wow. That video was amazing.

 

I can't believe the captain kept going when it was obvious that the ship was not in a controlled manner when getting close to structure. The way the aft of ship was closing in on the pier was obvious that the ship was not able to be maneuvered safely.

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BND

BND

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My DH (retired US Navy Captain) watched the video and he said the wind had more impact than they probably thought it would. He also said, they should have had tug assist which would have kept them from coming in so hot and out of control. Ships dock in wind all the time, but that angle with the wind made it much more difficult. I can't imagine that the bridge wasn't working furiously to avoid hitting it, but obviously not enough.

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WrittenOnYourHeart Great Review Rare

WrittenOnYourHeart

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The bottom line is that the Captain is responsible for the ship and where it goes. If the wind was strong enough that the thrusters could not control the sideways motion, the Captain should have called for tugs or bypassed the port. It remains to be seen what the penalties will be for the Captain from Celebrity.

 

This happened to us on a cruise going into St Kitts a couple years ago on the Legend of the Seas. There was about a 40-50 mph wind blowing into the side of the ship. The Captain tried to dock two times and could not maintain adequate control of the ship. He took the ship back out of the harbor and bypassed the port.

 

Honestly this was my thought as well. I have to wonder if they don't feel so much pressure to make the ports to avoid complaints by guests that they are willing to take more risks than they normally would. Look how many complaints we see on here if a port is cancelled.

 

Even currents can make things tricky. My last Disney Fantasy cruise was while the US was in the throes of the polar vortex, and things were pretty windy and currenty even in the Eastern Caribbean. At least one of the Disney ships had been unable to make Castaway Cay earlier in the week - they were able to construct a very narrow channel in order to build that dock, and the ships have to hit it just right. We had Commodore Tom as our captain on the Fantasy - DCL's original and most experienced - and I honestly thought we were not making it. I stood on the top deck aft (they back in to avoid getting stuck because of winds/currents as it is far easier for them to go against those forwards) and watched us literally look like we were not moving as he carefully worked against the wind and current to get her into the channel. Only once we were at least 2/3 in did he speed up slightly. My sister, who works for DCL (but was not on board when I was - she was on her vacation - and I did not get any discount as I HAVE to book in advance because of school vacations), said that if we had had any of the other captains, it would have turned into a sea day - and that likely he was thisclose to turning ours into another sea day.

 

I'm not doubting that the captain and his team did everything they could once they were in that position. I just question the wisdom in attempting what has been said to be a very tight parking space in less than stellar conditions - and how much of the reasoning behind trying is pressure to avoid customer complaints about missed ports.

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