Queen Victoria - hit quay in Malta, 20ft dent c/w small hole above waterline to stern

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 07:16 AM

Quote:

The Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria has hit a quay on entering Grand Harbour on her maiden call.

The incident happened at around 11.30 a.m as the 90,000 tonne vessel was being manoeuvred to berth alongside the Valletta Waterfront.

"The ship was being turned to face the breakwater and hit the Valletta Waterfront quay with its stern. It was a loud, scraping noise, I would not be surprised if the quay also suffered some damage," an eyewitness told timesofmalta.com.

The Malta Maritime Authority is to hold an investigation.

The Queen Victoria is the second biggest ship in the Cunard line and joined the fleet late last year. She will be making six calls at Grand Harbour this year.

timesofmalta.com - Updated: Cruise ship hits quay on maiden call

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 08:41 AM

This doesn't sound too good, however, it will depend on the level of damage done to the hull..

Quote:

Valletta, Malta - The Cunard-line Queen Victoria cruise ship on Wednesday sustained damage when it hit a quay on entering Malta's Grand Harbour.

The 90,000-ton vessel, which can carry 2,000 guests, was launched in October 2007 and was making its first voyage to Malta.

Port officials said an investigation on the incident was underway and it was not immediately known whether the Queen Victoria could resume her voyage.

Queen Victoria cruise ship hits quay in Malta | Top News

One good thing is that Malta has a very good ship repair yard in Valletta, so if she does need repairs it can be done on site.

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 09:15 AM

Update..

Quote:

The incident happened at around 11.30 a.m as the 90,000 tonne vessel was being manoeuvred to berth alongside the Valletta Waterfront. Informed sources said that according to initial reports, the ship's throttle suffered a temporary failure. Damage is thought to be superficial.

The stern could be seen dented above the waterline.

The Malta Maritime Authority is holding an investigation and has requested reports from the master and the pilot.

timesofmalta.com - Update 2: Cruise ship hits quay on maiden call

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 09:46 AM

A couple of photos of the damaged sustained...

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Queen Victoria has crashed while trying to berth in Malta, the Daily Echo can exclusively reveal.

The 96,000 tonne cruise ship was docking in the Maltese Grand Harbour of Valletta when it crashed into the concrete dockside.

Passengers looked on in horror was the stern of the ship reversed at what was described as "some speed" before crashing into the dockside.
It has been reported that the ship's throttle suffered a temporary failure.

According to eye-witnesses the crash caused a 20ft long dent in the rear of the ship. One passenger said: "We were reversing back and being at the back of the ship we could see what was going to happen before it did.

"We couldn't believe it. Seeing the 90,000 tonne ship back into the dock was incredible. The concrete exploded with the force of the impact. It is very embarrassing.

"We don't know if we can continue with the cruise, I think they are assessing the damage now."

Queen Victoria was named in Southampton in December of last year by the Duchess of Cornwall but when Camilla swung the traditional bottle of champagne against the side of the vessel it refused to break which was seen by some suspicious seafarers as an omen of bad luck.

An urgent examination is now underway by marine engineers to establish whether Queen Victoria will be able continue with her voyage or be forced to cancel the remaining part of the cruise.

"Experts are now assessing the damage to the ship and we will not known until later today how serious the damage is to the ship,'' said a Cunard spokesman.

"Queen Victoria came in contact with the dockside as she was berthing this morning in Malta as part of a 14-night voyage due to finish back in Southamptonon Tuesday, May 20.'' Passengers on the Mediterranean Delights cruise could have paid up to £20,000 a person for the most luxurious suite on Queen Victoria for the voyage which started on Tuesday, May 6 in Southampton.

Before he called at the Maltese capital of Valletta the ship had previously been in Naples with stop in Tunisia scheduled for tomorrow.

Queen Victoria Crashes Into Dock In Malta (from This is Hampshire)

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 01:43 PM

Update.

Queen Victoria is to remain in Valletta overnight for repairs to a hole in her stern. Tomorrow's port call in Tunisia has therefore been shelved. The ship will call at Gibraltar on May 17th before arriving back in Southampton on May 20th.

Compensation will be given to passengers, amounts not known at this stage.

In some respects it is lucky that she sustained the damage in Malta as Valletta has a very highly regarded ship repair facility that handles many liners, including Pullmantur.

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 02:49 PM

Don't think I would like an aft cabin tonight on Victoria. The repairs are being done overnight and ships being what they are...large hollow metal things...there could be quite a bit of noise from the guys working on her. Not sure if she will be fully repaired or just makeshift so that she can get home. Next week she is one of several ships in Southampton for a cruise convention, so she might be taken out of service and drydocked instead.

Will have to wait and see.

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 03:16 PM

Victoria has ABB azipods that give rudder control as well as propulsion control. How they managed to reverse her into the quay will definately need to be investigated, along with the 'throttle failure'. Being a Vista class ship (like Westerdam, Arcadia etc), if this failure is a fault within the design, it could have implications for the rest of the CCL marques that operate Vista's.

Seems really odd that she went into the quay like she did, especially as Norwegian Gem docked there without a problem yesterday.

I imagine that there would have been very colourful language on the bridge when she smacked the quay...and relief that no-one was injured.

**Ally** · 05-14-2008, 03:24 PM

Apparently Mickey Arison was on board at the time. The ship was under full control of the pilot at the time of the accident.

The close-up below shows that the damage is, infact, quite extensive..

**neil** · 05-14-2008, 06:38 PM

Hi

Its that bottle not breaking curse again !

She is certainly not getting off to a good start.

After the extended stay at Malta it is expected that the ship will now proceed straight to Gibraltar and give passengers extra time ashore there subject to her leaving Malta as at present planned.

They are also being offered compensation.

Neil