Two cruise ships operated by Carnival Cruise Line have collided in port in Cozumel, Mexico, with one of the largest cruise ships in the world, Oasis of the Seas, narrowly avoiding being hit, according to reports.
Carnival Glory made contact with Carnival Legend while attempting to berth in the busy port, where eight cruise ships were moored Friday.
Carnival Legend was already secured alongside when Carnival Glory’s stern swung into the bow of the other ship, causing extensive damage above the waterline to Carnival Glory.
While maneuvering, Carnival Glory also came very close to striking Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, which was docked nearby at a different pier. The incident was caught on camera by passengers onboard different ships.
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In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that several passengers had reported to the medical facility aboard Carnival Glory with minor injuries, reports by Sky News put the total number at six.
Carnival said at least one passenger was injured during the evacuation of the aft dining room.
“We are assessing the damage but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship. We have advised guests from both ships to enjoy their day ashore in Cozumel,” the cruise line said in a statement.
The videos below contains strong language
Carnival Glory just crashed into Carnival Legend and almost crashed into Oasis of the Seas at the Cozumel cruise port. #FoxNews #RoyalCaribbean #CarnivalLegend #CarnivalGlory #OasisoftheSeas pic.twitter.com/5ITBCfz99L
— Matthew Bruin (@BruinMatthew) December 20, 2019
#carnivalglory cruise ships collide 12/20/2019 pic.twitter.com/bO8zLQbFB3
— jsumm (@jsumm4) December 20, 2019
The cruise line has confirmed the next scheduled sailings for both ships will go ahead.
The 110,000 gross ton Carnival Glory is currently sailing a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans, and the 88,500 gross ton Carnival Legend is sailing a week-long cruise out of Tampa, Florida.
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This year has seen a few incidents of cruise ships from the same cruise line colliding with eachother.
Back in May, two Holland America ships hit each other in the Port of Vancouver and in February, 2019 two MSC Cruise ships collided at the Port of Buenos Aires. In both incidents, one of the cruise ships involved was already alongside when it was hit by another ship.
One of the most dramatic port collisions of the year, however, was between an MSC cruise ship and a Uniworld river cruise ship in Venice, which also caused extensive damage to the dock and made for dramatic video footage.
Did you know?
All four of the incidents above, including the latest between the two Carnival cruise ships, were actually allisions not collisions?
According to gCaptain, “A vessel collides with another moving vessel…. A vessel allides with a fixed object (unless it is submerged) and is presumed at fault”, while Merriam-Webster describes allision as “the running of one ship upon another ship that is stationary —distinguished from collision”.
We use ‘collision’ though, because most of our readers are not maritime experts and would think allision was a typo.
Categories: News