SILVERSEA Silver Spirit Strikes Dock At Key West 11/27/18

[IFLYMAUI]

Watching live coverage of SILVER SPIRIT leaving the M dock at Key West, FL tonight (11/27/18)  and then returning to the dock minutes later and striking the dock lightly.

 

It appeared that the ship maybe had propulsion issues or very strong winds?  It came into the dock at unreasonable speeds but was able to come to a stop.  Damage to the ship was evident but appeared minimal.  Damage to the M dock wasn't certain as darkness was setting in. 

 

There was no crew to tie the ship back up initially when she returned to the dock.

 

Anyone have any detailed info? 

Edited November 28, 2018 by IFLYMAUI

[rafinmd]

Just this tweet from PTZ:

 

" Watching #SliverSpirit in #KeyWest. Returned to dockside at #MallorySquare after struggling to depart in high winds. Possibly made contact with dockside at other pier.... unclear. It is VERY windy!!! "

 

Roy

[Westwoodfolk]

Just spoke with friends on ship.  Apparently the only damage to ship was scratched paint.  The winds are apparently very strong and in direction towards dock making it impossible to sail.  Tides are also changing.  Friends (who are staying in Miami and aren’t affected) say that departure from Key West is now said to be 4 am when tides are favorable if winds die down.  That means arrival in Lauderdale around 2 pm.   Safety first!

[jollyjones]

Wondered what was going on!

I have friends boarding at Port Everglades today so I checked the Spirit's position on marinetraffic this morning and was surprised to see she was still down by the Keys.

I hope there's nothing much more than pride damaged.

[briand123]

I caught it all on video from Ocean Key resort with my own remote HD PTZ cams.  It's also time-lapsed.   Significant damage to the south bollard at M dock.   Search YouTube for "Silver Spirit aborted departure".   A Navy capt friend of mine tells me that the port of Key West rules are that a tug assist shall be used in winds over 20mph.

[Stumblefoot]

6 hours ago, briand123 said:

I caught it all on video from Ocean Key resort...

For those looking for the link, here it is; 

 

[avalon1025]

We hit the dock in Quebec City a few weeks ago due to winds

Edited November 29, 2018 by avalon1025

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks or the link Stumblefoot, looked pretty minor against some we have seen over the years.

[jollyjones]

Worst consequence may have been all the flight rearranging required - she didn't make it into Port Everglades till 2pm. US immigration clearance should have been done at Key West, but even so there must have been a lot of messed up travel plans. 

She sailed about 11pm last night so let's hope she has better weather and a smooth cruise.

 

 

[MBP&O2/O]

I remember once we came out of a dry dock on the Tyne. It was a tidal movement and another ship was scheduled to enter the dock. We had no engines and two tugs.

The weather changed and the ‘aft’ tugs towing line parted leaving just the one tug for’d .... which could not cope. We hit one ship which was a matter of feet away. Bearing in mind it was a ‘standing start’ the damage was phenomenal! Several thousand tons, even at a slow speed makes a mess.

I later spoke to a port pilot who said that once a ship was parallel to the berth the ‘final approach speed’ that was aimed for was 1 metre per minute because, as above several thousand tons etc etc etc.

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...and I haven’t a clue why the system has altered the font. It never used to on tapatalk?????

[KeyWestLiz]

I watched it as it left. It was very windy out there that night. It got a ways out before it was evident there was an issue as it started drifting back in. It was an interesting sight to see standing down by the water by the south bollard area, especially since we didn’t know what was going on or how hard it was about to hit. It scraped the ship up and left markings in several areas as it hit different sections during its attempt to redock. It did some significant damage to the south bollard at M dock... it might have damaged some of the other docking area as well. 

[MBP&O2/O]

According to Cruise Law News ..... estimated damage is circa $500,000 ....

Ouch!

The dock is out of action fot a while ...

 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/

[jollyjones]

Hmmm ... Spirit was due into Key West at noon today, Dec 10th.

 

From MarineTraffic, she looked to be about an hour out when she turned around and is heading away, wonder if that’s accurate and if so why?

 

Edit - checked Mallory Square webcam and only Celeb Edge in port (she’s an interesting concept btw) so I wonder what’s going on. 

 

Perhaps they’re arguing about who’s going to pay for what? Or maybe it’s the dock damage? But I’d have thought they’d have just gone elsewhere rather than approaching and turning away?

Edited December 10, 2018 by jollyjones

[jollyjones]

Just heard from a friend who's onboard - it'a a bit breezy at Key West with NW wind (i.e. blowing straight on to the dock) so the Captain has decided not to risk an encore.

[AtMaui]

Got off the Spirit yesterday.  The ship got into Ft. Lauderdale on the 28th at 2P.  Silversea bused the passengers to two hotels for lunch.  Checked in about 5 and left at 11P.  We saw some of the damage but it didn't look that bad.  

 

We also could not dock on Grand Turk because of the winds so that turned into a tender port.

 

As for Monday, yes it was windy and the captain made the decision not to go to Key West.  He was in contact with the Edge and said even though it was windy since it was a bigger ship it could get in.  Very disappointed not to visit KW but the ship but together an afternoon of entertainment for us.

 

[philw1776]

Late October on Viking Sky we could not depart Rome for Naples because of high winds.  Missed Naples port as a result. Two larger cruise ships tried to depart and gently bumped into docks despite tug assistance before they returned to port.  Cruise ships unlike tankers & freighters are tall fluffy not dense structures that act like sails in high winds despite their powerful thrusters.

[AtMaui]

Heard from a friend on the Spirit cruise that got back into Ft. Lauderdale yesterday that they had to miss Key West again.

 

[KeyWestLiz]

We were having gale force winds that day. It was actually worse out there than the past couple of tropical storms we’ve had.