Carnival cruise CHAOS: Passengers scream and cry in panic as glass, plates, tables and chairs are thrown across the ship and smash to the ground as liner bound for the Caribbean violently LISTS hours after leaving Florida port
- The Carnival Sunshine listed to one side just hours after setting sail on five-day cruise to Eastern Caribbean on Sunday
- Photos taken by passengers show broken plates and glasses littering the floor of a dining room
- A passenger described a chaotic scene, with people screaming and crying
- Cruise line later said in a statement that electrical switchboard malfunction disrupted the fin stabilizers, which are designed to make the voyage smoother
- Company said fin stabilizers are not a safety feature of the ship
- A week earlier, another mechanical problem on board the same ship resulted in a major delay during previous cruise and disrupted the itinerary
- The Carnival Sunshine had just come out of a two-week dry dock in the Bahamas
Passengers on board the Carnival Sunshine embarking on a five-day cruise to Eastern Caribbean on Sunday were left terrified after the ship listed to one side just hours after setting sail from Florida, sending furniture sliding across the floor.
Carnival Cruise Line has since issued an apology to its customers, explaining that a piece of equipment called a fin stabilizer was to blame for the listing.
According to a letter sent by the captain of the ship t the passengers Monday, an electrical switchboard malfunction disrupted the fin stabilizers, which are not a safety feature but are designed to make the sea voyage smoother.
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Chaotic scene: David Crews, a passenger on board the Carnival Sunshine photographed the aftermath of an incident that happened Sunday, in which the ship listed to one side
The cruise ship had just left Port Canaveral, Florida, en route to the Caribbean when it began tilting to one side, which sent plates and cutlery sliding to the floor
Images captured on board the ship show broken plates and merchandise at a store scattered all over the floor
Crews said people were crying and screaming in panic during the incident
The Carnival Sunshine is one of the oldest vessels in the cruise line’s fleet, but it was refurbished in 2013
The website MarineInsight.com describes a fin stabilizer as a mechanical device found at the bottom of the hull, whose purpose is ‘to provide resistance to the excess rolling of ship in either direction.’
‘There was never any issue with the safe operation of the ship and our officers quickly intervened to correct the situation,’ the letter continued.
Photos and video taken on board the vessel showed a dining room floor littered with shards of glass, broken plates, cutlery and food.
Images taken by passengers inside their staterooms depicted drawers that had slid out of chests and personal belongings scattered on the carpeted floor.
Passenger David Crews, of Long Island, New York, told News 6 in a message that ‘pure chaos’ erupted on board the ship as it continued listing, with people screaming and crying in panic.
After the crew leveled off the 102,000-ton boat, Carnival Sunshine continued on its way to the Eastern Caribbean, with stops in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republican, and Grand Turk.
Bottles and cartons of cigarettes are seen littering the floor inside a store on board the ship
Passengers shared images from inside their staterooms, with personal belongings scattered on the floor after the listing
The crew managed to right the ship and it continued on its way Sunday
The captain on Monday sent this letter to all the passengers, explaining that the fin stabilizers were to blame for the mishap
Passengers were later offered $50 in on board credit to compensate them for the ‘disruption’ of their first evening on the ship.
The ship was scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Friday, although it’s been reported that some passengers have decided to cut their trip short by disembarking in Dominican Republic on Tuesday to catch flights home.
The Carnival Sunshine is one of the oldest ships in Carnival’s fleet. It was launched in 1996 under the name the Carnival Destiny, but was rechristened after undergoing a major overhaul in 2013.
A fin stabilizer is a mechanical device found at the bottom of the hull, whose purpose is to provide resistance to the excess rolling of ship in either direction
Sunday’s incident came just a week after another mechanical problem on board the same ship resulted in a major delay during the scheduled port of call in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which, in turn, prompted the captain to scrap the next stop in Grand Turk, reported CruiseHive.com.
The nature of the October 21 malfunction has not been disclosed by the cruise line.
Just a day before that incident, the Carnival Sunshine had come out of a two-week dry dock at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport.
During that time, the ship underwent maintenance and had some new features added to it, including an upgraded Internet service and a new deli.
Carnival Cruise Line’s website indicates that on November 2, the Carnival Sunshine is scheduled to embark on an eight-day cruise to Southern Caribbean, with ports of call in Aruba, Curacao and Grand Turk
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