Cruise ships collide at Canada Place
Posted May 4, 2019 9:59 am.
Last Updated May 4, 2019 7:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Two cruise ships collided early Saturday morning in the water near Canada Place.
Susan Carrusca and her mother were having breakfast with friends aboard the docked Nieuw Amsterdam after 6:30 a.m. on May 4 when she says they felt a jolt and heard loud scraping.
“There was this incredible jolt of the ship and we saw something go splashing into the water. Then we heard this loud, sort of scraping sound at the side of the ship at the back,” she says. “And then we heard all of the servers went to look, and they said ‘Oh, we’ve been hit.’ Then the captain came on the speaker and he said ‘Evacuate the stern of the ship.'”
The group was in the second floor dining room at the time.
“Because the ships dock stern to stern, it looked as if the stern of the Oosterdam was heading straight toward the window at the back of the ship,” Carrusca says. “I kind of wondered for a minute, is it going to stop?”
But, she says, the Oosterdam hit the starboard side of her ship and came to a stop against the dock.
Danielle Jang with the Vancouver Port Authority described the incident as minor contact between the ships, and says the Oosterdam was coming into berth at the time.
“Some minor damage was caused to both of the ships,” she says. “No injuries or pollution as a result, and our cruise operations are continuing normally at this point.”
Jang adds both vessels are owned by the same company.
“Transport Canada will be working with the cruise line, Holland America, to assess the damage.”
In a statement to NEWS 1130, Holland America says six aft stateroom verandas on the Nieuw Amsterdam were damaged in the incident, but the seaworthiness of the ships has not been affected. All the repairs required are above the waterline, and both cruises will embark on schedule.
The Nieuw Amsterdam will be departing on a seven day cruise to Alaska on Saturday, and the Oosterdam will be headed to Seattle.
Carrusca says she’s very surprised that this happened, but it won’t deter her from taking cruises in the future.
