Would cruise ships ever help evacuate an island?

I've been wondering . . . suppose a hurricane is bearing down on an island. The day before it hits, an evacuation order is given. At this time, there are several cruise ships in port. Would those ships ever take aboard evacuees from among the island's population before departing, or would they simply take their own passengers aboard and then split?

I've been wondering . . . suppose a hurricane is bearing down on an island. The day before it hits, an evacuation order is given. At this time, there are several cruise ships in port. Would those ships ever take aboard evacuees from among the island's population before departing, or would they simply take their own passengers aboard and then split?

A cruiseship is not going to put it's passengers in harms way. They will do everything they can to avoid the path of a hurricane, so if a storm is "bearing down" on an island a cruiseship will already be diverted to another location way before a hurricane gets there.

First, I can't imagine cruise ships going to an island directly in a hurricane's path. But if it did happen, I still don't see them helping with evacuations. There are too many logistics nightmares that would be created if they did that, not the least of which is Customs issues.

A cruise ship will not carry more persons than for whom they have life vests and life boat seats/life raft space.

This is not to say that cruise ships aren't useful in emergencies. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/09/03/three-carnival-cruise-ships-to-house-katrina-refugees/

Though the ships were "chartered" I find it hard to imagine that Carnival was making money off the deal (but then again, who knows...?)

Empty ships have been chartered for "hotel" space. But I hardly see how chartering a ship to house refugees is going to be more profitable than sailing it with money spending vacationers. Maybe there is money to be made by doing this for high profile sporting events.

A ship cannot exceed lifeboat capacity unless it is coming to rescue in an abandon ship situation e.g. Carpathia taking on Titanic's survivors or the Ile de France assisting the Andrea Doria.

I wonder whether it would be different in the case of private islands where it's all their employees.

Life boat and life raft space may be one limit but it has some considerable cushion. Likewise the life vests. Seems to me, they have close to double the number needed as one is in the cabin but also more stored in the lockers near the life boats.

I have never heard of a ship refusing to take on people from another stricken ship but only after counting the life boat spaces. The private islands may be slightly different, but for the size of these ships it would not be that many more people. My guess.

Customs, liability issues, available space, logistics...there are so many opportunities for things to go wrong in such a situation.

I think the cruise ship's main obligation would be keeping the passengers and crew safe, and that means steering the ship away from the path of a hurricane asap.

In 2010, in response to the shutdown of UK airspace due to the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the newly completed Celebrity Eclipse was used to rescue 2000 British tourists stranded in Spain as "an act of goodwill" by Celebrity. The ship departed from Southampton for Bilbao on April 21, and returned on April 23. Her official maiden voyage occurred a week later on April 29.

That rescue effort was the very first voyage with passengers for this brand new ship.

How many islanders do you think there are? There's no way a cruise ship could take on that many folks! Plus, I'm not sure the locals would want to up and leave their homes....

Logistics and triage would be the problems. First, would flag state or class allow the ship to take more passengers than lifeboat capacity. The total for boats and rafts is 125% of everyone onboard, so you could get 25%+- (depending on 3rd/4th occupancy), and how would you decide who gets to go and who has to stay?

A maritime disaster is one thing, a relief effort ashore is another. Why not fly in a bunch of airliners to get the islanders off?

Short of a total charter for the express purpose of evacuation, I don't see it happening.

Has anyone ever heard of an island being evacuated before a hurricane?? People that live on islands in areas subject to hurricanes do not leave their homes or islands. Where would the ships take them?? Passports, customs and immigration come to mind. There will not be any cruise ship in a port that is in the likely path of a hurricane.

Has anyone ever heard of an island being evacuated before a hurricane?? People that live on islands in areas subject to hurricanes do not leave their homes or islands. Where would the ships take them?? Passports, customs and immigration come to mind. There will not be any cruise ship in a port that is in the likely path of a hurricane.

When I was in Cozumel, I asked my tour guide what people did when hurricanes came. He said that the residents hunker down in their homes or go to shelters, but they do try to evacuate as many as the tourists as possible before the storm hits. I failed to ask him how they do that, so that's really how this question came to my mind in the first place.

From the responses, it's pretty clear that cruise ships would not be used for this purpose. I suppose that someone (the Air Force? Commercial airlines?) must fly planes in to get the people out.

By the way, I can attest that your last sentence isn't always true. We made a port stop in Grand Cayman on my October 2010 cruise, and the ship made a hasty departure at the end of the day because Hurricane Paula was approaching.

Agree with the majority of the posts thus far in that a cruise ship would not intentionally enter in to harms way to evacuate islanders for all the reasons mentioned.

That being said, they may - and do - assist in emergency aid where possible. Case in point, as I understand it, after the Haitian earthquake a few years ago RCI ships continued to call on their private destination there at Labadee, and for a period of time offloaded relief supplies brought from FL to assist in the aid efforts.

They don't evacuate islands for hurricanes in general. In many places, such as the Bahamas, most homes are built using CBS, and can withstand storms up to about a category 3-4. In other locations, they go to shelters. In places where neither is available, the local authorities are usually too incompetent to arrange an evacuation, even if it were possible (otherwise they would have chosen one of the other options).

Life boat and life raft space may be one limit but it has some considerable cushion. Likewise the life vests. Seems to me, they have close to double the number needed as one is in the cabin but also more stored in the lockers near the life boats.

 

I have never heard of a ship refusing to take on people from another stricken ship but only after counting the life boat spaces. The private islands may be slightly different, but for the size of these ships it would not be that many more people. My guess.

Rescue ships/sailors at sea in an emergency is a very different circumstance than evacuating an island. Of course, all vessels come to aid of those in need at sea.

In 2010, in response to the shutdown of UK airspace due to the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the newly completed Celebrity Eclipse was used to rescue 2000 British tourists stranded in Spain as "an act of goodwill" by Celebrity. The ship departed from Southampton for Bilbao on April 21, and returned on April 23. Her official maiden voyage occurred a week later on April 29.

 

That rescue effort was the very first voyage with passengers for this brand new ship.

Thomson ships were used for the same purpose during that air shutdown. ferrying people from the med islands back to mainland europe so they could catch the train or coach back to the UK.

I would think that in an emergency involving abandoning ship a vessel asssisting would pack as many people aboard as they could take if leaving them in their liferafts etc would put their lives in danger.

Thomson ships were used for the same purpose during that air shutdown. ferrying people from the med islands back to mainland europe so they could catch the train or coach back to the UK.

 

I would think that in an emergency involving abandoning ship a vessel asssisting would pack as many people aboard as they could take if leaving them in their liferafts etc would put their lives in danger.

my underline

Yes, of course, they rescue all in such a circumstance. :eek:

This is not to say that cruise ships aren't useful in emergencies. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/09/03/three-carnival-cruise-ships-to-house-katrina-refugees/

 

Though the ships were "chartered" I find it hard to imagine that Carnival was making money off the deal (but then again, who knows...?)

I remembered when this happen. Co-workers of mine were suppose to cruise on one of the ships used for this purpose. And as they said, they were more than happy to give up their cruise so the first responders had a place to stay.

Thomson ships were used for the same purpose during that air shutdown. ferrying people from the med islands back to mainland europe so they could catch the train or coach back to the UK.

 

I would think that in an emergency involving abandoning ship a vessel asssisting would pack as many people aboard as they could take if leaving them in their liferafts etc would put their lives in danger.

I don't want to revisit the whole "why didn't they evacuate the Triumph" scenario again, but to make a couple of points:

One, we are talking about an evacuation of an island, not a ship.

Two, the law says that all ships must make every reasonable effort to aid a stricken ship, without placing the attending vessel in undue risk of harm to vessel, crew, passengers, and cargo. It is not a blanket requirement to do everything humanly possible.

Three, if it was life threatening to leave people in lifeboats and rafts, it would most likely be too dangerous to try to transport them to the attending ship. Transferring from a small boat or raft to a large vessel in an open sea, in rough weather (why else would it be dangerous to stay in the boats), would probably result in the loss of more lives and more severe injuries than leaving people in perfectly seaworthy boats.