Carnival Cruises saw its beleaguered Carnival Triumph hit the news again in early April when the 101,509gt ship snapped her lines during a heavy wind storm and was blown across the harbour at Mobile, Alabama to come up against the stationary US Army Corps of Engineers dredger Wheeler.
Both ships suffered structural damage in the incident, including a large gash just above Carnival Triumph’s main deck on the starboard side aft, and denting forward, and three dock workers were injured, one after being blown into the water. The cruise ship had been berthed at the BAE Ship Systems yard at Mobile undergoing repairs and modifications following her engine-room fire of early February while the American dredger was docked for routine maintenance at the nearby Signal Ship Repair yard.
Because of the incident, Carnival Triumph, and Carnival Sunshine (ex-Carnival Destiny), are having modifications and improvements made to each vessel’s fire detection and suppression systems. JS
