Holland America Line (HAL) is investigating the cause of an ‘accidental steam release’ on Nieuw Amsterdam which killed two crew members.
HAL said the accident happened in an engineering space when the ship was docked off Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas on Friday (22 March).
According to news reports, the captain told passengers about the deaths over the ship’s PA system on the last day of their cruise. Passenger Laine Doss told NBC News: “He broke down crying. There was a moment of silence that the captain requested,” she said.
“And that entire scenario did affect the entire cruise. Things were cancelled, joyous events were cancelled, and we really just thought about mortality — the people who perished on the ship.”
In a statement HAL said: “We regret to share that on Friday, March 22, while calling at Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas, there was an accidental steam release in an engineering space on board Nieuw Amsterdam, which sadly resulted in the death of two crew members. The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board are currently investigating. Safety is always our top priority, and we are working to understand what, if anything, can be learned from this tragic accident.
“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this event. We’ve been in contact with the families of both team members and are offering our support to them and to all of our crew at this difficult time.”
Nieuw Amsterdam returned to its home port in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday (23 March) and HAL confirmed it was deemed ‘fully operable’ by independent surveyors of the Dutch government and the US Coast Guard.
The ship has now embarked on its next cruise, calling in Jamaica today (25 March).
In another incident in the Bahamas, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Freedom experienced a funnel fire after a possible lightning strike, which has resulted in the cancellation of its next two cruises.
Cruise Hive reported the ship’s funnel caught fire on Saturday (23 March). Due to bad weather Carnival Freedom had already cancelled its scheduled call to Princess Cay and instead made an unscheduled call in Freeport on Grand Bahama yesterday (24 March) where it was assessed for damage.
In a statement to Cruise Hive, Carnival said: “While we continue to investigate multiple eyewitness reports of a lightning strike, our technical team completed a thorough assessment during the ship’s visit to Freeport today (24 March). Regrettably, the damage is more than we first thought and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, resulting in the cancellation of the March 25 and March 30 cruises from Port Canaveral.”
Passengers on the cancelled cruises are being offered a full refund and 100% future cruise credit.
