Video shows Norwegian cruise ship collides with port moorings

The Norwegian Epic cruise ship collided with a mooring in the San Juan, Puerto Rico port Tuesday, startling passengers.

At the time the 4,100-passenger ship was on a seven-day Eastern Caribbean sailing out of Port Canaveral in Orlando. The ship was not scheduled to dock in Puerto Rico, but passengers reported the ship had mechanical problems and diverted there Tuesday. As the ship approached the port, a passenger aboard another cruise filmed the Epic colliding with and sinking parts of the mooring.

“Prevailing winds caused the ship to veer towards the pier, damaging two mooring points at Pier 3 East,” said a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line. “No injuries have been reported and guests are currently disembarking the ship as previously scheduled. We are working closely with local authorities to assess the damage.”

Passengers shared photos of the damaged cruise ship on social media, including a gash in the side.

The ship is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Saturday.

This story was originally published February 13, 2019 at 12:48 PM.

Taylor Dolven

Miami Herald

305-376-2052

Taylor Dolven is a business journalist who has covered the tourism industry at the Miami Herald since 2018. Her reporting has uncovered environmental violations of cruise companies, the impact of vacation rentals on affordable housing supply, safety concerns among pilots at MIA’s largest cargo airline and the hotel industry’s efforts to delay a law meant to protect workers from sexual harassment.