Ambassador Cruises ship Ambience collides with cargo ship in Cape Town

Ambience, a cruise liner operated by the British cruise line Ambassador, collided with a container ship in the Port of Cape Town on Friday morning, causing minor damage to both vessels.

Ambassador Cruise Line confirmed that its vessel Ambience was involved in a berthing incident while arriving in Cape Town for a scheduled port call, but that no passenger or crew had been injured. 

Ambience departed from Durban three days ago and was calling in Cape Town as part of her grand voyage around Africa. While docking, strong winds caused the ship to “make contact” with the container ship, Grey Fox.

“Despite the assistance of two tugs and a pilot, Ambience was unable to maintain position in strong, gusting winds and made contact with the container ship, which was already alongside. Both ships report only minor damage, and there is no water ingress or pollution,” the company said in a statement.

“No injuries have been reported to either guests or crew, and Ambience is now safely alongside, close to the cruise passenger terminal,” it added. 

The ship was inspected and cleared as seaworthy and is expected to depart at 23:00 on Friday night as scheduled.

The 245m cruise ship was built in 1991 and had its last refit in 2022 when it was acquired by Ambassador Cruises. The ship carries 1,400 guests and caters primarily to the British cruise market.

When Ambience docked at the Cape Town Cruise Terminal in Makers Landing near the V&A Waterfront, scores of tourists disembarked the vessel as normal and expressed praise for the cruise line and voyage thus far to News24.

The ship is currently operating a Grand Round the World Cruise that is scheduled to finish in Tilbury on May 5th, she will remain in Cape Town overnight before continuing her voyage.

Editor’s update: Ambassador Cruises later confirmed that Ambience would depart Cape Town a few hours later than planned. Despite passing the necessary checks, the ship’s captain chose to delay departure until Saturday (6 April) when the forecast was “more favourable”. 

An Ambassador spokesperson said: “We have time in hand to make Tristan de Cunha as per schedule on Wednesday 10 April.”