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Celeb Equinox snapped her strains and drifted in Buenos Aires on Saturday, December 20.
The incident occurred throughout embarkation for a 14-night crusing and company have been delayed 2-3 hours.
The ship remained in a single day in Buenos Aires however departed on Sunday morning.
Celeb Equinox‘s 14-night New 12 months’s cruise is off to a rocky begin because the ship broke its mooring strains and drifted barely. In keeping with a submit on Reddit, the cruise ship rubbed alongside a refueling tanker earlier than colliding with a close-by pier.
The incident occurred whereas the ship was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday, December 20, 2025, as company have been embarking for that day’s departure.
On the time, Climate Underground notes that wind speeds abruptly elevated to 20-25 miles per hour, with gusts measured as excessive as 37 miles per hour. All through the morning, winds had been not more than 10 miles per hour, although the climate had been stormy with ongoing rain.
With the strains damaged, Celeb Equinox‘s bow swung out and away from the pier, inflicting the aft of the ship to contact the pier. The embarkation gangway broke unfastened from the pier and dropped into the water, however remained hooked up to the ship with the unfastened finish submerged within the water.
“The gangway went off the pier and was hanging towards the ship partially submerged. Loopy scenario,” one visitor famous.
Because the bow swung round, the ship additionally contacted the pier on the opposite aspect. A refueling vessel’s bow additionally appeared to scrape alongside Celeb Equinox‘s hull, leaving a protracted scratch that company shared via social media posts.
Happily, the ship didn’t stay adrift for lengthy. In keeping with passengers onboard, tugboats have been shortly dispatched to carry the 121,878-gross-ton, Solstice-class cruise ship again into docking alignment.
Because the incident occurred throughout embarkation, boarding was naturally delayed for 2-3 hours. Company have been accommodated within the cruise terminal because the ship was resecured and a brand new gangway put into place.
No accidents to company, crew members, or port personnel have been reported.
Celeb Equinox can welcome 2,850 company aboard and can also be house to greater than 1,200 worldwide crew members.
Departure Delayed
Due to the delay in embarkation and to make sure the security and seaworthiness of the vessel, Celeb Equinox didn’t go away Buenos Aires as scheduled on Saturday night.
As a substitute, the ship remained docked in a single day. Satellite tv for pc monitoring confirmed the ship finally departed earlier than 11 a.m. native time on Sunday. Company onboard report that the primary port go to, to Montevideo, Uruguay, can also be delayed however not cancelled.
Celeb Equinox was to have been in Montevideo from 8 a.m. to five p.m. on Sunday, December 21. Buenos Aires and Montevideo are simply 125 miles aside throughout the Rio de la Plata estuary.
There are not any additional confirmed adjustments to the ship’s Patagonia and Antarctica itinerary, which incorporates visits to the Falkland Islands, Cape Horn, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Madryn, and Punta del Este.
Whereas this specific voyage doesn’t cross the notorious Drake Passage, it’s certain to be a memorable one for company nonetheless.
The ship will return to Buenos Aires on January 3, 2026 and he or she stays homeported from the capital of Argentina via March 2026.
At that time, she’s going to return to Europe to homeport from Barcelona and Civitavecchia for the summer season within the Mediterranean, earlier than returning to South America in December 2026.
Mooring Line Incidents Not Uncommon
Whereas unusual, it isn’t unparalleled for cruise ships to interrupt their mooring strains, notably throughout blustery wind situations when sudden gusts can put an excessive amount of pressure on the already tense ropes.
Moreover, such incidents are usually not distinctive to Buenos Aires and might occur wherever robust winds would possibly happen.
For instance, in Might 2025, MSC Seascape broke free within the Bahamas whereas the ship was docked at MSC Cruises’ personal island vacation spot, Ocean Cay.
As with Celeb Equinox, MSC Seascape‘s gangway dropped into the water and each embarkation and debarkation have been quickly halted till the ship could possibly be resecured.
Equally, MSC Sinfonia broke freed from her mooring strains in early January 2024 when gale pressure winds impacted the ship in Syracuse, Italy. Happily, the vessel was out of service on the time for upkeep and no visitor operations have been due to this fact impacted.
In August 2023, Queen Mary 2 broke freed from her moorings in Civitavecchia with each ahead and aft gangways collapsing, and in July 2023, Norwegian Prima snapped her strains in Zeebrugge, Belgium with the gangways additionally falling into the water.
It is vitally lucky that no accidents have been reported from any of those incidents. Crew members overseeing embarkation and debarkation watch climate situations very fastidiously and can halt visitor actions if there look like any security dangers.
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