On 4 November, 2023 the Spirit of Discovery cruise ship was travelling through the Bay of Biscay (which lies to the east of France and the north of Spain) when it was hit by a storm causing extremely violent force 11 winds and a 30ft wave to crash into the boat.
The storm battered the ship and caused injuries to over 100 passengers, eight of whom were taken to hospital when the boat arrived back in Portsmouth two days later. One of whom would later die from their injuries.
The Spirit of Discovery ship was struck by a violent storm last November (Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
According to the interim report, the cruiseliner lost ‘propulsion’ (allowing crew to push the ship forwards) due to the severe weather, causing the boat to sway ‘violently while the crew restarted the vessel’s propulsion’.
The report added that the severe weather and issues with the boat lasted from 12:30 GMT on 4 November into the next morning.
“The propulsion issues, storm force conditions and vessel motions continued until the following morning when Spirit of Discovery was able to continue its passage,” the interim report reads.
“During this period over 100 passengers were injured. Eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken directly to hospital on arrival at Portsmouth, England, one of whom later died from their injuries.”
An interim report into the investigation has been released (Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The Spirit of Discovery also suffered damage to the interior and exterior of the ship, with images shared by passengers onboard revealing shattered glass, upturned tables and passenger belongings strewn across the floor.
First hand accounts from passengers onboard describe the chaos onboard during those hours, with several recalling having to ‘hold on for dear life’ at the time.
Recalling her experience to the BBC last year, 75-year-old Jan Bendall explained how she was in her cabin alongside her husband when the a message from the captain told all passengers to ‘remain seated or lie down’ over the speaker system.
“It was quite frightening,” she continued. “I’m not somebody who frightens easily… it was quite dramatic.
“We were lucky – we’re quite able-bodied, but I think some of the older people and people in their own cabins were quite worried.”
The interim report added that the investigation is nearly complete and that a full report into the incident will then be issued for consultation with all parties involved.
Pictures taken by passengers show the damage caused by the storm (Richard Reynolds)
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Saga has shared condolences with the family of the deceased passenger and added that everyone onboard was offered a full refund.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies remain with the family of our guest who died following the storm in the Bay of Biscay last year. We are continuing to work with the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, supporting their investigation,” they said.
Cruise ships really seem to have it all, they’re almost like mini little towns or well, floating resorts, I guess.
The big fancy ones often have water parks, a load of restaurants, theatres, and just all sorts of things to do – enough for people to live aboard even. But cruise ships do also have slightly darker features, like morgues.
And while you’re enjoying a big cruise holiday, the only kind of ‘jail’ you might imagine ending up in is during a family game of monopoly.
But a dancer onboard one cruise ship has explained just what happens when a passenger gets arrested on board.
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Because yep, as well as morgues, the ships come fitted with their own little ‘jails’ for when things get out of hand.
TikTok user ‘ethanjamesx’ works as a dancer on a cruise ship and said passengers who are arrested typically get put in the Brig – ‘which is like a jail cell that we have on board’.
The Aussie explained that on a ship he previously worked on there was a number of occasions where ‘people were put in the Brig’.
“Usually the main reason was when a fight broke out,” he said.
“Now we did have this really big fight that broke out and multiple people involved.”
But obviously, they couldn’t just put all those people into the same room together.
So Ethan explains that they put them into their cabins, with security standing outside ‘depending how long the cruise is’.
The TikToker explained it all depends on ‘the severity’ of what a passenger has done.
For example, usually if it’s a fight you stay onboard ‘but you’re confined’.
“When it comes to anything further than that, you’ll be most likely debarked at the next port and passed on to local authorities,” he said.
As blogger Emma Cruises explains, cruise ships are fitted with a ‘Brig’ in the crew-only areas.
TikTok/@ethanjamesx
These are used as a ‘place to hold guests suspected of breaking the law or those who are acting dangerously or recklessly’.
It’s pretty much a ‘last resort’ to have a guest kept in the Brig and Emma says that ‘cruise lines try to avoid [it] as much as possible’.
She also adds that Brigs tend to be a ‘simple room’ with a bed and little else.
A user joked in the comments of Ethan’s video: “What ever happened to walking the plank?”
One reckons it’s ‘a bit much’ as another put: “Imagine being grounded on a cruise.”
Featured Image Credit: Tiktok/@ethanjamesx / Getty Stock Images
Topics: TikTok, Travel, Cruise Ship
Passengers travelling on the world’s largest cruise ship have told of the ‘dystopian’ experience onboard after a man reportedly jumped off of the vessel and died.
The unidentified victim is said to have plunged from the 1,200-foot-long Royal Caribbean ship Icon of the Seas on the first night of the week-long voyage which began in Florida on Sunday (26 May).
Reports claim the cruise liner was just 300 miles from PortMiami when the tragic incident occurred.
The Icon of the Seas – which can accommodate a whopping 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew – had set sail to explore the Gulf of Mexico before the alarm was raised that a traveller had gone overboard
The vessel came to a halt for around two hours as the Coast Guard and Royal Caribbean conducted a search for the man, before it was announced that he had passed away.
The man went overboard on the first day of the Royal Caribbean cruise (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard,” the Coast Guard told the New York Post. “He was pronounced deceased.
“Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident.”
Now, those onboard the Icon of the Seas have spoken out about the ‘dystopian’ scenes which have unfolded on the ship since the man reportedly jumped off.
Zachary Normandin, 31, said that hundreds of passengers were eating dinner in one of the ship’s restaurants when the captain made an announcement informing them that the missing holidaymaker had been located.
However, tourists mistakenly presumed that the man ‘was fine’ and initially burst into celebration.
Normandin told the Post: “Everyone in the dining room clapped and we’re like, ‘yeah!’ We assumed that the guy was fine.”
Passengers said it is back to business as usual onboard now (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The dad-of-one, from Connecticut, said that he felt somewhat uncomfortable with those onboard the Icon of the Seas just carrying on as normal despite the death of a passenger.
“I don’t think everyone knows about the guy dying. I think it’s kind of purposely silenced,” Normandin said.
“I think people we’re just trying not to think about it, maybe, I don’t know.
“It just seemed like more people would have been like ‘oh my gosh, what’s going on,’ but no, people were just going about their day. It’s just kind of dystopian.”
He recalled how the captain informed people that the Icon of the Seas was turning around in the hopes of finding the man overboard and presumed ‘that was it’ for his holiday.
“But no, everything just kept on going,” Normandin said.
He also paid tribute to the man who lost his life and said he hopes his loved ones ‘get through this’.
It’s a sad reality that some people die when they’re on holiday. But what happens when you’re in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship?
Well, one former cruise ship worker has addressed the issue on her TikTok account.
Former cruise ship employee, singer Dara Starr Tucker, used to sail around the Caribbean and the Mediterranean on cruise ships around 10 years ago.
And while we go on holiday to escape reality for a short period, sometimes it sadly comes with us.
Dara said: “I was a singer on a cruise ship about 10 years ago and I lived on a ship in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean for about six months.
TikTok/@darastarrtucker
“Thankfully we didn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff [passenger’s dying] but we were friends with some crew members who did.”
She revealed that sadly, four to 10 people will pass every on every cruise holiday. It might seem high but she says you need to remember they’re used by a lot of people who are older in age and therefore statistically more likely to have something that could cause illness or death.
Dara said her colleagues told her that “maybe four to 10 people die every cruise… there are a lot of older people on ships and often people die on cruises”.
Cruise ships are built ready with the idea that people will die while they’re sailing in the middle of one of the world’s oceans.
As a result, they all have actual morgues – although they are not publicised for obvious reasons. Bodies can be stored in them for around one week.
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Maritime solicitors Brais Law Firm explain that when someone dies, their remains ‘should be kept in the morgue undisturbed until the cruise ship gets to its next port which accepts human remains, at which point the body will be unloaded from the ship and transferred to local authorities’.
But they explain that the removal of the body is only the beginning of the process for those who have lost someone.
The law firm says: “Once the passenger’s body is removed from the cruise ship, it is up to the family to make arrangements to have their loved one’s remains sent home.
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“This can be challenging—especially if the passenger’s body is located in a far-away foreign country—and it can also be expensive without insurance.
“Even though the cruise line made the decision to leave the passenger’s remains behind, it will not assist with this process.
The MSC Cruises vessel found itself stuck in the port of Barcelona over issues with some of its guests’ rights to set foot on Spanish soil.
But the vessel was forced to keep everyone on board as it arrived in the Mediterranean.
Pictures from the scene showed its passengers stood around their balconies and top deck as they looked out over the side of the grounded ship.
The issue concerned 69 Bolivian passengers who were not allowed to leave the MSC Armonia because they didn’t have valid visas to enter the European border-free Schengen area.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
This is a part of Europe with an ID-check-free travel zone comprising 29 European countries that Spain is part of.
Those from Bolivia, which included families and children, were to disembark from the cruise ship at Barcelona, with the vessel sailing on across the Med.
MSC Cruises said: “The passengers appeared to have proper documentation upon boarding in Brazil.
“We have been informed by the authorities that the visas are not valid for entry into the Schengen area. As a result, passengers have not been able to disembark in Barcelona, which was their final destination.”
One passenger told the local press that she felt like a ‘criminal in a prison’ and was convinced her travel documents were all in order.
The situation is now being treated as a possible fake visa scam, according to Solange Duarte, a Bolivian diplomat in Barcelona.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported that the visas had cost up to $10,000 (£7,940) per person for all the Bolivians on board the cruise ship.
Since the issue came to light this week, the Bolivian passengers have been taken off of the MSC Armonia which has since set sail once again.
The cruise company has now agreed to provide another boat from Livorno in Italy for the Bolivian passengers, the Spanish government statement said.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
MSC Cruises will also provide food and healthcare for the impacted Bolivians and immigration officials will work to resolve the passengers’ visa problems as quickly as possible.
Featured Image Credit: David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
