Celebrity in Hot Water - Edge sailed too close to Kauai’s NaPali Coast

[CruisingTheWaves]

Shocked to see this happened. I saw an image posted a couple days ago and thought “Wow, I didn’t think you could get that close to the coast?” Then this story broke. I can only think this was a mistake but am surprised the captain let this happen. Under investigation. 
 

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/05/02/state-investigating-amid-reports-cruise-ship-sailed-close-shore-off-kauais-na-pali-coast/

Edited May 2 by CruisingTheWaves

[pete_coach]

I guess we will have to wait for the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), land department and coast guard to finish their investigation and report as opposed to local residents and tour guide comments.

[CruisingTheWaves]

4 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

I guess we will have to wait for the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), land department and coast guard to finish their investigation and report as opposed to local residents and tour guide comments.

I’m interested to see what transpires but I’m just surprised it was even allowed to happen and what Celebrity’s explanation is.

[mnocket]

10 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

I guess we will have to wait for the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), land department and coast guard to finish their investigation and report as opposed to local residents and tour guide comments.

And pictures.  Let's not forget to ignore the pictures too.

[highfields]

I wonder who the current Captain is on the Edge?

[PTC DAWG]

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission applies here? 
 

what was harmed? 

[Jeremiah1212]

10 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission applies here? 
 

what was harmed? 

 

Despite being illegal, Hawaiians are very serious about protecting their environment. That area is full of fringing reef with all sorts of marine life. 

[yogini06]

20 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Two words - Costa Concordia

 

On 13 January 2012, the seven-year-old Costa Cruises vessel Costa Concordia was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when she deviated from her planned route at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, sailed closer to the island, and struck a rock formation on the sea floor. This caused the ship to list and then to partially sink, landing unevenly on an underwater ledge

I was this cruise.  Captain Matt reported the cruise navigation route goes to corporate shortly before they set sail.  He said he is not allowed to deviate more than 3 miles without corporate approval.  Other passengers report he spoke in the theater after the incident that he was unaware of local restrictions of not being less than 1000 yards from shore.  I know he bears ultimate responsibility but why didn’t RCI catch it?

[Mariettte]

I was also on this cruise. We were surprised at how close we were during the 360. Stunning scenery but so close to the shore!

[hcat]

Wonder what the fines are, resoration  costs of seabed? ,  or what any  period of a ban will be.

 

Surprising no one  on board knew these rules and briefed the Cap..but seems quite obvious it was too darn close to shore! Yikes.

Edited May 2 by hcat

[yogini06]

3 minutes ago, hcat said:

Wonder what the fines are, resoration  costs of seabed? ,  or what any  period of a ban will be.

 

Surprising no one  on board knew these rules and briefed the Cap..but seems quite obvious it was too darn close to shore! Yikes.

Agree.  This was put into place beginning in October to substitute for the Lahaina port closure. I believe another ship did this lat October.  I’m not sure if there was a pilot onboard.  Ship went very slowly and did a 360° off Na Pali.  

[Purplsmurf]

Captain Matt is a wonderful person and great captain. I can’t believe he would do this intentionally. He had to have not known it wasn’t allowed. Someone is in trouble……..and I hope it’s not him 

Edited May 2 by Purplsmurf

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Despite being illegal, Hawaiians are very serious about protecting their environment. That area is full of fringing reef with all sorts of marine life. 

Oh I totally get the reason for the rule…was just curious of any ramifications of this..

[ito717]

Boarded Edge yesterday and Captain Matt announced at 930pm last night that today’s scheduled cruising of the Na Pali is cancelled due to “environmental restrictions.”  He didn’t elaborate but it didn’t take long to find the story on the news via google. 
 

We will call on Hilo a day early for what was always scheduled as an overnight stay. We will then overnight in Kona which was not the plan. 

 

Needless to say this has made for a scramble to change rental cars and tour reservations, not to mention losing out on seeing Na Pali.

[pete_coach]

40 minutes ago, hcat said:

Wonder what the fines are, resoration  costs of seabed? ,  or what any  period of a ban will be.

 

Surprising no one  on board knew these rules and briefed the Cap..but seems quite obvious it was too darn close to shore! Yikes.

Really? Run up to the bridge and inform the Captain of the rules he is breaking?? Please LOL

[Orator]

Shouldn't the information concerning the restrictions be on the chart?

Edited May 2 by Orator

[CruisingTheWaves]

Like I said this is all just shocking to me that the captain wouldn’t know the restrictions. There’s also a factor of common sense…? 

[hcat]

50 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Really? Run up to the bridge and inform the Captain of the rules he is breaking?? Please LOL

Good Leaders appreciate input..esp if a  big error was impending.

Thought there might be a Navigation officer of some type...???

[cruisestitch]

5 hours ago, pete_coach said:

And your analogy is applicable how??

The action on Costa was dangerous and uncalled for, do you know what and why the action in Hawaii even took place?

We have eyewitnesses posting here in Cruise Critic

[pete_coach]

13 minutes ago, hcat said:

Good Leaders appreciate input..esp if a  big error was impending.

Thought there might be a Navigation officer of some type...???

Do not over estimate access to the Bridge of a ship.

All I am saying is it would be best to wait till the official report comes out.

Edited May 2 by pete_coach

[pete_coach]

12 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

We have eyewitnesses posting here in Cruise Critic

And rife with speculations. I am just sayinfg that the investigation is yet to occur and the report will address the issue.As any investigator knows, 10 eye witnesses can have 10 different view points. 🙂

Edited May 2 by pete_coach

[markeb]

Admitting this doesn't look good, I would expect at least two investigations. If there is damage to the environment, one of those investigations will probably assign "blame". And lead to the assessment of any monetary damages. That's kind of too late here...

 

The important investigation is a root cause investigation to understand what happened. Were procedures in place to prevent this? Were the procedures followed? Were the procedures inadequate? Etc. And none of us have a clue on any of that. For instance, were they following charts that didn't adequately identify no-go areas (probably not a maritime term)? Did they identify the area but the navigation staff missed them? Was there a pilot on board? Ultimately out of that you figure out the root cause for the incident and identify ways to prevent it. By Celebrity and other ships. Speculation at this point isn't really value added. Apparently the immediate corrective action is to "don't go there" for now...

[Lastdance]

I know some people enjoy jumping to conclusions, but wait...be patient and let the facts/evidence speak.  Actually, I was supposed to be on this cruise, so that’s why this caught my attention.  I am definitely happy that Edge didn’t run aground.  The hiking back into this area is amazing, with gorgeous views. Makeb is right!  I know that Jim is on a different ship, but interesting to hear is take on this if he is aware of this incident...

Edited May 2 by Lastdance

[Northern Aurora]

I also am not going to speculate as to what happened, but will certainly be following this story.  Several interesting reports in Hawaii print media.

[snigol]

Currently on the ship. Growing concern among passengers on two fronts:

 

1) Passengers are just now (this morning / afternoon) learning that all is not as Celebrity said last night during a ship wide announcement. Reporting the last-minute change to not go to NaPali Coast as being due to "environmental restrictions" is not entirely accurate. They are PR-ing it a *little* too slickly, marketing the itinerary change as a benefit ("2 days in Kona!!!"). So now, passengers aren't feeling as gracious and ready to change their plans / excursions without some sort of truth (and OBC 🤣).

 

2) Most disturbing to many is the lack of transparency and overly-positive spin, acting as though it's impossible to believe passengers can read and hear the news. Regardless of how "nice" Captain Matt is, passengers want to see some accountability. Celebrity is a 3B+ company, and the Edge is a 100+ GT vessel. This isn't an "oopsie" that can be written off to "not knowing." Either the Captain / Celebrity weren't fully informed and were unaware of environmental and safety restrictions in the waters in which they're sailing (a horrifying thought) or he was willfully violating rules and common sense (scarier still).