What Happens to Cruise Ships During a Hurricane?
Last month, Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc across much of Florida. The massive storm impacted cruise lines, as well, forcing many Florida ports to close. Once ports closed, cruise ships that were already out at sea were stuck until the ports reopened.
Three major Florida cruise ports were closed during Hurricane Ian, including: Port Tampa Bay, Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPort), and Port Canaveral.
These port closures stranded five Florida-based cruise ships, leaving them out at sea and unable to return to their home ports as scheduled.
The affected voyages included two Carnival Cruise ships, including the 2,052-passenger Carnival Paradise and the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation. Carnival Paradise sailed out of Port Tampa while Carnival Elation sailed out of JAXPort. Both voyages began on Sunday and were scheduled to return to port on Thursday morning, just when Hurricane Ian was scheduled to hit Florida.
Other vessels left stranded at sea, included Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Gateway, and MSC Cruises’ MSC Divina. Another Port Canaveral-based vessel, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wish was scheduled to return to Port Canaveral early Friday morning but faced delays due to the storm.
Cruise ships have a unique advantage of being able to move quickly out of harm’s way when an approaching storm is detected. As opposed to seeking shelter in a port, the safest place for a cruise ship to be during an approaching storm is at sea.
Most times, the need to re-route the vessel away from the storm is a nightmare for cruise ship passengers as itineraries are changed and embarkation and disembarkation ports are altered at the last minute.
However, many passengers were more than happy to spend a few more days on vacation. Passengers on the Disney Wish posted videos to Twitter of the passengers cheering throughout the vessel after they were told they would be getting an additional day or two at sea.
Other passengers, including those on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, posted to social media “faking” their disappointment that they were being forced to stay on their cruise an extra day.
These types of voyage extensions due to hurricanes are rare. Both Florida coasts were hit hard by Hurricane Ian due to its size and magnitude. The recent cruise extensions, involved ships operating from multiple Florida ports, including ports on both sides of the state.
These delays followed a number of other cruise disruptions that occurred due to the chaos caused by Hurricane Ian. Over a dozen cruises in the Caribbean and the Bahamas were forced to switch course to avoid the storm as it made its way to Florida. Many of these vessels dropped ports of call from their itineraries or switched ports, moving to calmer waters.
One port that has been used as an alternate stop for cruises avoiding the paths of hurricanes remained unavailable to these stranded vessels. This port, Grand Turk, remains closed for the time being due to the damage it sustained from Hurricane Fiona.
Cruise lines have resumed operations at all three Florida ports that closed during the approach of Hurricane Ian. Port Tampa Bay, Jacksonville’s JAXPort and Port Canaveral all reopened to cruise vessels on Saturday after being closed earlier in the week.
With the reopening, half a dozen cruise ships that had been stuck at sea for the past couple of days including Carnival Cruise Line’s Tampa-based Carnival Paradise and Royal Caribbean’s Port Canaveral-based Mariner of the Seas were able to return to their home bases to allow passengers to disembark.
Hurricane Ian officially made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, September 28 as a powerful Category 4 storm. Maximum sustained winds were around 150 mph. The three Florida ports that were closed were the closest cruise ports to the track of Hurricane Ian.
While the ports may have reopened, port officials are still assessing damage. The roads leading to and around Port Canaveral have reopened, and cruise ships have been cleared to resume operations. However, officials from Port Canaveral issued a statement saying that the Rodney Ketcham Park boat ramps and the Jetty Park at the port will remain closed until further notice.
As of now, Port Tampa Bay has not reported any damages to their port facilities after assessing the dock, wharfs, and terminals. The port has been approved for a return to full operations. Similarly, officials from JAXPort did not report any port damage.
Two other ports in Florida, including Port Everglades and Port Miami have fully reopened. Since both of these ports were further from the hurricane’s trajectory, Port Miami and Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades had minimal damages and were reopened after safety and security assessments were completed by port authorities. By reopening the ports, the port’s scheduled cruise departures were able to occur and other cruise ships that were stuck at sea due to the hurricane were able to safely dock at these ports.
When ports close due to weather or other reasons, port officials will coordinate with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the maritime community, to properly respond to any damage caused by the hurricane. The local port Operations, Security, Facilities staff work with local law enforcement, emergency response agencies, and the U.S. Coast Guard to minimize the damage and effects of the storm with the goal of returning the port to normal operations.
A port shutting down, affects more than just cruise ships. Closing a port, even temporarily, can lead to major disruptions in the supply chain. Ports are not only used for welcoming cruise travelers, but they also provide a dock for fuel and cargo ships, which is why the decision to shut down ports is not always an easy one to make for port authorities.
Hurricanes are not the only instances that cause delays. Any kind of weather can affect the safety of the port, including rain, snow, ice, and fog. A simple halt in the operations of the port can cause further delays that last for weeks or even months, and the effects can flow down to the entire supply chain.
Port closures, while historically rare, have been occurring more often due to the increasing severity of tropical storms and hurricanes. In August 2020, the Port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was closed due to impending storms. Later in the fall of 2020, while Hurricane Zeta was heading towards the Louisiana coast, the U.S. Coast Guard closed nearly all Louisiana ports. In August 2017, the Port of Houston was closed for six days due to the storms caused by Hurricane Harvey. In China, the Port of Shanghai, known as the world’s busiest container gateway, was closed for 27 days, leading to major disruptions and supply chain issues.
The Miami-based cruise ship accident and maritime injury law firm of Delgado Trial Attorneys possess a skill set that few other maritime attorneys can claim. Raul’s extensive experience representing the cruise lines and developing their defense strategies years before they started representing the passengers and crew members that suffered injuries because of the cruise lines’ negligence. Combined with Raul Delgado, Sr.’s 45 years of personal injury experience fighting on behalf of injured accident victims, Delgado Trial Attorneys offers a combination of experience in all types of cruise ship personal injuries unlike any of their competitors.
Our experience allows us to effectively strategize and advocate for every client we represent. We have handled all types of cruise ship passenger accidents over the years with a focus on slip, trip and falls, medical malpractice, FlowRider accidents, sexual assaults, Death on the High Seas, and more. Contact our law firm today for a free case evaluation. Virtual sign-ups available. Visit https://cruiselawyermiami.com/ to learn more.
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