Italy-Cruise ship crashes into dock in Venice

[Pi Thoughts]

Top Italian officials have immediately called for cruise ships to be banned from using the Giudecca Canal in Venice after an out-of-control cruise ship rammed both a dock and a river tourist boat in the Italian city.
Two Australians were believed to have been on board.
Videos of the crash show the MSC Opera cruise ship, apparently unable to halt its momentum, blaring its horn as it ploughs into a much smaller river boat and the dock this morning (local time) as people on the dock run away in panic.

Cruise liner hits river boat and dock in Venice, Italy

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Discussion thread re: MSC Opera crash in Venice on Cruise Critic:

MSC Opera Crashes into Riverboat in Venice

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Cruise ship rams tourist boat, dock in Venice canal

Venice, Italy — A towering, out-of-control cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist riverboat on a busy Venice canal on Sunday morning, injuring five people, officials said. The collision sparked new calls for placing restrictions on cruise ships in the famed city.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. local time on the Giudecca Canal, a major thoroughfare that leads to St. Mark’s Square in the northeastern Italian city...

 

[PrairieWind]

Wow that is crazy! I'm very interested to hear what went wrong. It seemed that the ship was almost out of control there at the end. Its pretty fortunate that there weren't a lot more casualties from that river boat. I'm guessing that cruise ship captain is finished.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Wow that is crazy! I'm very interested to hear what went wrong. It seemed that the ship was almost out of control there at the end. Its pretty fortunate that there weren't a lot more casualties from that river boat. I'm guessing that cruise ship captain is finished.

From AP report above: ...The cruise ship’s owner, MSC Cruises, said the vessel was about to dock at a passenger terminal in Venice when it had a mechanical problem. Two tugboats guiding the cruise ship into Venice tried to stop the MSC Opera, but they were unable to prevent it from ramming into the riverboat...

Calderan said the cruise ship’s engine was locked when the captain called for help...

 

[PrairieWind]

From AP report above: ...The cruise ship’s owner, MSC Cruises, said the vessel was about to dock at a passenger terminal in Venice when it had a mechanical problem. Two tugboats guiding the cruise ship into Venice tried to stop the MSC Opera, but they were unable to prevent it from ramming into the riverboat...

Calderan said the cruise ship’s engine was locked when the captain called for help...

I wonder what that means: "engine was locked."?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Onboard correspondence to MSC Opera passengers.

 

[PrairieWind]

Onboard correspondence to MSC Opera passengers.

Full refund is more than most cruise lines offer.

 

[MsFacetious]

That is seriously something out of a horror movie. I'd definitely want to be on the MSC Opera in that situation. *shudder*

 

[1&2&3]

Glad to hear this cruise line knows how to treat their customers with a full refund. Other cruise line only refund a partial refund if I recall correctly.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Captain of crashed Venice cruise ship under investigation for 'criminal damage'

The captain and pilot of a cruise ship that smashed into Venice harbour face possible charges of "criminal damage with danger of causing a shipwreck".

 

[PrairieWind]

I am still wanting to see a final report on what caused the crash. It was reported as an engine failure, but that seems unlikely. More like a control problem, instrumentation. A computer glitch or failure?

 

[Gardenista]

Cruise ships are finally banned from Venice following decades-long battle | Daily Mail Online