Oasis of the Seas’ sailings throughout the rest of April have been cancelled following a shipyard accident during which a crane fell onto the massive ship, causing damage to her starboard side and aft Aqua Theatre.
The 2009-built cruise ship, one of the largest in the world, was undergoing repairs to one of her azipods in Freeport in the Bahamas when the crane fell against her starboard side.
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Some parts of it also collapsed onto the Aqua Theatre deck.
Eight crew members were injured in the accident, but none are in a serious condition according to the cruise line.
“Earlier today, we responded to a site incident at the Grand Bahama Shipyard, where Oasis of the Seas is currently in drydock. Shipyard management has informed us of eight injuries, none of them considered life-threatening,” the statement said.
Rather than have the ship repaired at the same shipyard, Royal Caribbean have instead elected to reposition her to Cadiz, Spain, for unscheduled repairs ahead of her European season.
As such, all her cruises in April have been cancelled. These include two 7-night cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean scheduled for April 7th and April 14th, as well as her 14-night April 21st trans-Atlantic cruise to Barcelona.
Royal Caribbean has indicated that guests will receive a full refund and credit toward a future cruise.
The repairs are expected to be completed by May 5th, when Oasis of the Seas is scheduled to depart Barcelona on the first of a series of 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises.
Oasis of the Seas is the oldest of the world’s largest cruise ships, launched in 2009
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She will homeport in Barcelona and Civitavecchia (Rome) until mid-September when she will enter drydock once more for a major refurbishment project, before spending the winter cruising out of the Miami to the Caribbean.
In May, 2020, Oasis of the Seas will reposition to New York, where she will spend the summer season.
The accident at the Grand Bahama Shipyard forced all of the ship’s crew to be evacuated from the ship, many of them without any spare clothes, passports or other items.
Cruise Hive has reported that Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line stepped in to provide temporary accommodation for the Oasis crew aboard its ships Grand Celebration and Grand Classic.
After a construction crane fell on top of a @RoyalCarribean cruise ship in the Bahamas, the Grand Celebration provided humanitarian relief to the 2,000 Oasis of the Seas crew members. They are expected to return to Palm Beach around Noon. @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/6SZJbxTPvv
— Terace Garnier (@TeraceGarnier) April 2, 2019
Grand Celebration was in Freeport at the time when the crane fell onto the Oasis-class vessel. In a letter to guests posted by WPBF 25 News, the ship welcomed the crew members after they were unable to return to Oasis of the Seas with all their belongings on-board.
The Grand Classica will be acting as an overnight hotel for the @RoyalCaribbean crew, according to an email obtained from the ship’s leadership.
The Grand Classica is expected to return to Palm Beach with the crew Tuesday, according to a source. @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/cxSl8nHgbG
— Terace Garnier (@TeraceGarnier) April 2, 2019
Grand Classic looked after the approximately 1,200 crew members from Oasis of the Seas overnight, acting as a hotel for the stranded crew and providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Captain Jakup Meinhardt Hansen sent an email to Grand Classic’s crew members asking them to help in any way they could by providing a toothbrush, phone charger or anything else to make things easier for them.
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