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There had been concerns about the quality of the ship before she sailed, but these were ignored due to worries about delay penalties to the build. Changes were made due to the sinking of the ship to make electrical wiring onboard much safer, including using an AC current and more modern circuit breakers. Other passengers were notified, and crew members "increased cleaning and disinfection procedures."
Conclusion: What Can We Learn From These Incidents?
I’ve also chosen not to include ships that served as a cruise ship for a small part of their life but were being used for other purposes when they sank. If the ship was mainly a cruise ship but was commandeered for war efforts, I’ve kept it in. For the sake of this list, I’ve looked back just over 100 years, so that we cover everything from possibly the most famous cruise ship sinking ever. This ship was berthed in Beirut during the massive ammonium nitrate explosion of 2020 at the port.
MTS Oceanos – 1991
The ship had departed from Argentina, attempting to follow the route of 19th-century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake Passage,a route well known for its rough seas. The Belofin-1 had recently been sold for scrap and was meant to be being towed to India, but went via Mexico from Ukraine in 2000 when it sank near just over 90km from Cape Town, South Africa. 4 years later in 1916, the Titanic sister ship, the HMHS Britannic, which had been turned into a hospital ship, was famously sunk by a German mine. Be sure to join my email list for my best cruise tips and handpicked deals each week.
How many cruise ships have sunk?
The lifeboats wouldn't drop down because the ship was tilted on its side, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded on the side of the ship for hours in the cold. People were left to clamber down a rope ladder over a distance equivalent to 11 stories. The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, had been performing a sail-past salute of Giglio when he steered the ship too close to the island and hit the jagged reef, opening a 230-foot gash in the side of the cruise liner.
Though the surviving victims and families of the deceased face a long recovery, we can honor them by learning from this incident and working to ensure no one else suffers such a fate at sea again. Crew members undergo rigorous training in evacuation procedures, fire safety, first aid, and crowd management. Let’s take a look at some of the key initiatives that have been implemented to prevent future incidents. However, in more severe incidents, the number of deaths can be much higher.
Their boat sank. Luckily, a cruise ship and the Coast Guard were nearby - wpde.com
Their boat sank. Luckily, a cruise ship and the Coast Guard were nearby.
Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
‘I have lived the most beautiful lives and died the most beautiful deaths’
That’s not exact, obviously – more ships have been built more recently and there are over 300 cruise ships currently sailing, so an average of 150 for the last 50 years is probably accurate. And some ships sail longer itineraries and some sail regular 3-4 day cruises. There were 4,252 people on board the ship including over 3,200 passengers.
Immediate Aftermath and Rescue Efforts
The MTS Oceanos was another ship sailing from Greece that sank, only three years after the MV Jupiter. The cause was excessive flooding, which was believed to have been caused by freak waves breaking apart a ventilation pipe that had been insufficiently repaired. Andrea Doria was struck by another ship, the Stockholm, and immediately began to list heavily which made many of the lifeboats inaccessible. The Empress of Britain was another ship owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to sink, and like the Lusitania, she was a victim of war, although this time it was the Second World War that caused her demise.
The Bianca C is a unique entry on this list as it has somehow been sunk not once, but twice. The ship started life as a passenger ferry and was scuttled by the Germans during the Second World War. The hull was raised from the water and the ship was refitted as a cruise ship. Of the 1,066 people on board, 1,036 made it into lifeboats or the water and were rescued. I’ve omitted passenger ferries, since this is specifically about cruise ships.
When you compare the number of cruise ship passengers to the number of incidents, it’s clear that cruising is a safe way to travel. From its fleet of Carnival brand cruise ships, none have ever sunk or capsized. All passengers and crew were evacuated from the ship before it completely sunk.
Fears Over Sunken Cruise Ship Near Popular Island - Cruise Hive
Fears Over Sunken Cruise Ship Near Popular Island.
Posted: Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Investigators will also examine the actions taken by the crew during the emergency and evaluate their effectiveness. The vessel sank in early November 2007 after hitting an iceberg which made a gash in the hull, allowing water to enter. At the time of the incident, there were 34 people all onboard who were all extracted to safety.
Evidence introduced in Schettino’s trial suggests that the safety of his passengers and crew wasn’t his number one priority as he assessed the damage to the Concordia. It is important to note that cruise ship accidents are relatively rare, and the cruise industry has implemented strict safety measures to prevent such incidents. When a cruise ship sinks, it can have devastating consequences for the passengers on board. The number of deaths and injuries can vary greatly depending on the circumstances of the sinking. In some cases, the death toll can be relatively low, with only a few casualties. While it’s certainly tragic when a cruise ship sinks, it’s important to remember that these incidents are rare.
Considering there are more cruise ships than ever on the seas today, it’s clear that not many cruise ships have sunk in recent times. Important – I’ve also decided to keep this list to cruise ships (both ocean and river), and ocean liners that served as cruise ships. The last time a cruise ship sank with passengers on board was a Chinese river cruise ship in 2015, which hit an unexpected and severe storm that capsized the boat. Of these, 5 occurred when no passengers were on board, and in another, there was an engine fire during a cruise but all passengers and crew were safely evacuated. The Oceanos was a Greek cruise liner, sailing the South African coast from Cape Town to Durban, passing Coffee Bay off the Wild Coast, an area known for treacherous currents and ship wrecks.

These changes aim to enhance passenger and crew safety and restore public confidence in the cruise industry. For more information on cruise ship safety and emergency procedures, you can visit the official website of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at Over 200 passengers went missing and are presumed dead in one of the worst cruise ship disasters in recent memory.
Although our MS Seascape is a hypothetical ship, its situation is far from uncommon. In 2021, 54 large vessels either sank, ran aground or went up in flames and these behemoths are more likely to cause catastrophe when things go wrong. “It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.
Generally, the modern safety features on cruise ships mean that very few lives are lost if ships ever sink. The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship’s engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.
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