Topic: Three die after cruise ship crashes into pier

Three crew members have been killed after a luxury cruise liner ploughed into a pier in Egypt.

The incident happened at the popular tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, along the Red Sea, when the Costa Europa lost control due to high winds and stormy weather.

Local police say the three killed include an Indian, a Brazilian and a Honduran, with no other fatalities reported.

However, maritime officials confirmed that three British women and an Italian man had been taken to hospital following the accident, where they are described as being in a stable condition, according to CNN.

Holidaymakers have apparently been offered overnight stays in nearby Egyptian hotels and a full investigation into the incident will now commence.

The vessel forms part of the 16-strong Costa Crociera fleet, which is the Italian subsidiary of Carnival Cruise Lines.

In January, 2,178 passengers and 914 crew members had a lucky escape when the Carnival Miracle crashed into a pier in St Kitts.

Although the vessel incurred a 15 foot gash, luckily no one was hurt in the incident.

is this the ship thompsons are taking later this year?
thoughts are with all those involved and their families

Yes it is..... the Costa Europa should become the Thomson Dream in April....such an awful thing to happen, thoughts are with the families.

Saw the pictures of this on the Daily Mail website last night, very sad for the families of the crew who died and anyone who was hurt. It wasn't clear at that time whether the crew were onboard or ashore helping with the berth.

It must have been a storm of some force for the ship to have ended up partly on the dock, wonder how it will be extricated!
Liz

Before all this happened, we heard the captain of Celebration speaking with some pride about his little ship, which he said was built for Atlantic crossings as a cargo ship. The best feature was the bow thrusters, which gave him tremendous manoevrability. He made a joke about the new Dream- Europa- not having the same facility, and said they'd be needing tugs to do the same as his ship. (he was also scathing about "blocks of flats", for safety reasons).
We had tremendous winds in Sharm- the weather had been unexpected for over 3 weeks, with the storm which ruined the airport and hotels, and one day the beach was flooded both by the spring tide and a gale. I read that there's been floods in Saudi Arabia too. This winter has brought mayhem to many places across the world- the Times says today that it's because the gulf stream is so far south.
My thoughts, too, are with all connected with this accident, and especially the grieving.
Jo.

If it was the same Celebration captain as on my cruise back in January he will have the problem of handling the Dream because he is transferring to her in April, along with a cadre of experienced staff from Celebration.

I find it surprising that the ship would not have bow and stern thrusters. I thought they were standard fittings.

QUOTE:

If it was the same Celebration captain as on my cruise back in January he will have the problem of handling the Dream because he is transferring to her in April, along with a cadre of experienced staff from Celebration.

I find it surprising that the ship would not have bow and stern thrusters. I thought they were standard fittings.

He was Polish, and said he'd be off work in March as they were having a baby. He was joking, but he did talk about the bow thrusters and tugs issue quite seriously- Jo.

my thoughts are with the families of the crew members who died RIP

QUOTE:

He was Polish, and said he'd be off work in March as they were having a baby. He was joking, but he did talk about the bow thrusters and tugs issue quite seriously- Jo.

Funny, I thought I had replied last night!
The captain on my cruise was South African. I think all the ships have at least 2 captains plus of course the Staff Captain and others all have their masters certificates.

Oh dear what a terrible accident but it always amazes me to see how they berth those great big ships. Albeit the Europa is a smaller one. Imagine berthing the Oasis of the seas in a storm or that terrible earthquake in Chile aftershock.