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Cruise Ship collides with riverboat in Venice

Coral

By Coral,
in River Cruising

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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2 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

I hope everyone is ok. I thought the small ships docked at another place than the megaships in Venice. 

It does seem odd they would dock in the same area.

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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WOW......hope everyone is ok too.  And I am booked on The River Countess for October.  I wonder what UNIWORLD is going to...…..

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AnhaltER1960

AnhaltER1960

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13 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

I hope everyone is ok. I thought the small ships docked at another place than the megaships in Venice. 

Correct. The crash happened at San Basilio dock, where the small ship was berthed. MSC Opera was not supposed to dock there. She was towed into the harbour through the Giudecca canal, when she got out of control. Apparently the wire rope failed and the MSC Opera was pushed by wind and/or current. Not using her own engines she was unable to maneuvre.

 

Lucky spot to hit land, as San Basilio dock seems to be much more stable than standard Venice embankments. Hitting the Zattere a couple of yards further east would have caused serious damage and, being crowded on a sunday, probably more injuries or even worse.

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capriccio

capriccio

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A comment from Uniworld is in this article. There are also pictures of the damage done to the River Countess.  https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-ship-crashes-into-river-vessel-and-dock/32146:

 

"Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection ship, The River Countess, was hit by the MSC Opera, a large ocean ship while docked at San Basilio Cruise Terminal in Venice, Italy this morning.

 

Four guests with minor injuries were escorted to the hospital by Italian-speaking Uniworld staff. No crew members were injured.

 

The accident occurred after most guests of the 13-passenger (sic; should be 130)  River Countess had disembarked and were transferring for flights home."

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acwmom

acwmom

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I've watched a couple of videos on YouTube now. So fortunate that the crew of the River Countess seemed to be able to untie from the dock just before impact and avoid total destruction. There is some footage from passengers on the top deck of the MSC ship, and the top of the wheel house has been dislodged and pushed backward. The retractable roof of the Osteria has also been damaged.

 

Sunday is usually turnover day, IIRC, it appears the people on the dock were waiting to board.

 

Robin

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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24 minutes ago, acwmom said:

I've watched a couple of videos on YouTube now. So fortunate that the crew of the River Countess seemed to be able to untie from the dock just before impact and avoid total destruction. There is some footage from passengers on the top deck of the MSC ship, and the top of the wheel house has been dislodged and pushed backward. The retractable roof of the Osteria has also been damaged.

 

Sunday is usually turnover day, IIRC, it appears the people on the dock were waiting to board.

 

Robin

Hi Robin, I forgot about what day it is......Sunday is disembarkation day.  I actually called Uniworld this morning.  The offices are in California and Sunday they open at 7am Pacific time (10 here). The gal I spoke with was very nice but had no solid info (which is understandable) since it just happened.  Thankfully there were no fatalities!

 

I hope she is seaworthy by October.

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

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3 hours ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Correct. The crash happened at San Basilio dock, where the small ship was berthed. MSC Opera was not supposed to dock there. She was towed into the harbour through the Giudecca canal, when she got out of control. Apparently the wire rope failed and the MSC Opera was pushed by wind and/or current. Not using her own engines she was unable to maneuvre.

 

All cruise ships are required to have 2 towboats with them entering the laguna of Venice. But they are technically not towed and run under their own power. The towboats only assisst. There was no real wind and there´s not much current in the Guidecca Canal. The pilot association stated that the MSC Opera lost control over the engines and steering. The cable didn´t break until the accident.

 

steamboats

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

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4 hours ago, jeter55 said:

Awful...the video is frightening hope no one is seriously injured.  We are booked in July on the River Countess.

 

Looking at the damage I´m not sure whether the River Countess will be able to sail in July. There´s severe damage to the bow and the stern. The pilot house is ripped off. And more.

 

steamboats

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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This may be a really dumb question but did the steering mechanism just "go out" on the MSC ship? How could the Capt not have control? Did they not realize something was VERY wrong long before they were nearing the dock?:classic_wacko:

 

Oh....she was not supposed to dock at the spot?...they had lost control already?  Houston, we have a problem!

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Ritabob "Live from...." Rare

Ritabob

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Uniworld does have a spare ship....The B.  The U by Uniworld ship that was sailing along the Seine, but they scrapped that itinerary this year.   Not sure if the regular demographic of Uniworld would appreciate a ship designed for millenials?  😉

 

So thankful no major injuries...this time.

 

RB

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Ritabob said:

Uniworld does have a spare ship....The B.  The U by Uniworld ship that was sailing along the Seine, but they scrapped that itinerary this year.   Not sure if the regular demographic of Uniworld would appreciate a ship designed for millenials?  😉

 

So thankful no major injuries...this time.

 

RB

Off topic but I wonder if "B" will ever sail as "B" again. 

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

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5 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Looking at the damage I´m not sure whether the River Countess will be able to sail in July. There´s severe damage to the bow and the stern. The pilot house is ripped off. And more.

The pictures I’ve seen seem to show NO damage to the stern. https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/venedig-schiffsunfall-103.html

I’m confused by some of the pictures, but am under the impression that River Countess damage was limited to bow and forward section of the boat. Did you have confirmation that the pilot house was ripped off? I have not seen evidence that the sun deck suffered structural damage. 

There is certainly considerable cosmetic and quite likely structural damage to the port side of the bow. 

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