MSC Poesia Runs Aground In Bahamas (VIDEO)

A 2,550-passenger cruise ship ran aground in shallow water in Freeport, the Bahamas Saturday morning.

The 93,300-ton MSC Poesia was hosting the first annual three-night Holy Ship! music cruise from Fort Lauderdale when it ran aground two miles off Grand Bahama early Saturday, the Freeport News reports.

The cruise was being held for electronica music fans and featured 20 DJs, including Steve Aoki and DJ Aero (with whom Tommy Lee was scheduled to appear, USA Today reports.)

The ship docked in some 14 feet of water in low tide, the Freeport News reports, and it took four tug boats to pull the heavy ship off the reef. Ships of that size are not meant to dock in less than 30 feet of water.

A photographer on board told Broward-Palm Beach New Times that the commotion started around 7 a.m. when the boat was scheduled to dock at Port Lucaya. "I was fast asleep. When it happened, it was like 'boom!' A huge bang. Grinding and rattling and everything started shaking. I had a half plate of food on my side table that flew off onto the floor. I heard the people in the room next to me freaking out and screaming, 'Oh my god, we're going down, where's the life vests? We're gonna die!'" The ordeal lasted the entire day, through 10 p.m. The photographer added: "The entire time the tugboats were pulling and the ship's engine was running in reverse, it was a constant rattling and shaking of the boat. Trying to eat dinner while your water glass is swaying side-to-side and the chandelier shaking is uncomfortable."

The visit to Grand Bahama was touted late last year by the area's tourism minister, who was looking forward to the ship's arrival in 2012. "The call of the MSC Poesia is one of many projects we are working on to strengthen Grand Bahama’s tourism sector," Ian Rolle, president of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA), told The Bahamas Weekly last year. "We are excited about this visit. It is a trial call, but our hope is that it will evolve into much more, and thereby creating opportunities for many individuals and businesses alike."

Hadley Forbes, whose company was meant to transport guests around prior to the ship's arrival, told the Freeport News that it was an unfortunate mishap. "For this to happen is a big setback for the cruise industry right here in Freeport. All the ports I've ever been to in the world, whenever the ship enters into the waters of the country, a pilot of the country normally is on-board the ship to bring it into port. I don't know what happened with this one. Something drastically went wrong."

Comments

[rachellockhart]

10:00 PM on 01/17/2012

we got on this boat later the same day and it had a couple of near misses in Haiti and Jamaica days later too! but just like the story in Italy - the staff was the best part! good luck friends :)

[Air Vice Marshal Park]

01:53 AM on 01/12/2012

They should rename it the MSC Rick Perry.

"Oops!"

[fine7760]

01:41 AM on 01/12/2012

A couple of years ago the captain of the USS Port Royal ran his ship aground right off the reef runway in Honolulu. It had just come out of the Pearl Harbor ship yard and was taking its shake down cruise after being upgraded. It took about a week to free it. They had to off load everything including the anchors. The captain and many crew members were disciplined for the mishap. The ship needed major repairs.

[estimatorone]

12:57 AM on 01/12/2012

Ships like that should not go into ports that require special navigation
to enter a port. The port should have been better prepared to receive
such a ship and the ship should not have attempted to enter such a
port until a better channel was developed.

[beth24]

12:57 AM on 01/12/2012

people who do these big cruise ships are so tacky and low..everyone knows they pollute and destroy ocean habitat. they stuff their face and eat and drink all day and expose themselves to germs all over the ship. people who live in quiet rural areas and suburbs like being crammed in with all these people because they are so bored and have no life to speak of. More importantly, they are destroying the oceans

[beth24]

12:51 AM on 01/12/2012

Glee. serves them right big cruise ships are evil..they are destroying ocean habitats, also just think 3000 people taking one or two dumps and numerous pisses everyday multiply that by all cruise ships 365 days and what a sewer they create also so much dirt and waste of all kinds ends up in the ocean the whole concept of these large scale cruises is disgusting ban it. small cruises of no more than 100-200 should be max... and are so much more enjoyable sustainable..also these people were metallica electronica heads with that evil music. serves them right sorry but true

[kjp12]

09:12 PM on 01/21/2012

beth24, big ships like that don't dump the sawage and/or trash into the ocean's, sawage is treated before it is dumped into the water just like it's done in big cities and dumped into river's, and the trash is keeped on the ship intell it is port and then taken to a landfill.and yes smaller cruises would be alot better,with the Costa ship in Itaty with 4,200 people onboard that about the same amount of people in the town I live that too many people. and metallica music is not evil, I am 47 years old and also like all types of music but for rap and death rock know that music is evil, rap degrades women, and death rock is just sceaming in the mic.

[lilliefaerie]

12:06 AM on 01/12/2012

Whoever wrote this article ought to be put in writer's block-up and throw away the key. All for frigging sensationalism. Apparently, the long ordeal was not life-threatening but was time-consuming. Get over the Omg, we're gonna die, exclamations and do some ligitimate reporting, period, drop the sensationalism. It would have made a much more

[themotorjunkie]

11:57 PM on 01/11/2012

oops

[becrafty01]

11:31 PM on 01/11/2012

SOOO, The boat thats not a float, is it ruined ? Can it be trusted to stay afloat at sea?

[dmoongo]

10:41 PM on 01/11/2012

Didn't I see this in "Speed 2"?

[soldier123]

10:05 PM on 01/11/2012

The captain of the shp should have his license taken away. An idiot.

[a pragmatist]

09:27 PM on 01/11/2012

Oops!

[anilimili]

09:26 PM on 01/11/2012

Well....look on the bright side--each and everyone of these passangers ended up having a beach-front cabin.... ;)

[matanzero]

08:18 PM on 01/11/2012

Whose idea was to try and dock that monster without "local knowledge" pilot on board or tugs guiding her in? STUPID...!

[jlshawaz]

08:11 PM on 01/11/2012

I heard the Captain was first mate on the Exxon Valdez till they lost some oil.