The barge was moored off the coast of George Town, Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands during rough weather, which deteriorated very quickly, a squall caused a gust of wind from the south to South East peaking to 40 knots.
Ships can maintain their position at anchor up to 25 knots, but the squall caused the anchor to be dragged north, sending it into the barge in a matter of about three minutes.
The location of the accident was just off Pageant Beach.
The ship had arrived in port about three hours earlier, and most of the passenger had gone ashore. Those onboard felt a sharp jolt, similar to a ship going aground.
The bang resulted in two dents on the port side of the ship and a long 100–foot scrape.
The barge, which was moored, did not move after it had been struck by the ship. The anchor was pulled following the incident and the ship remained at engine for the rest of the afternoon.
It is unclear why the ship had dropped anchor instead of remaining at engine, given the poor weather conditions.
Cruise Ship Accident
Cruise Ship Crashes Into Barge
Enchantment Of The Seas - November 2, 2006
Name: Various
Event Date: November 2, 2006
Bruise: Accident
Bruise Location: Grand Cayman
Details:
In the second anchor dragging disaster within the past month, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Enchantment Of The Seas drags it's anchor 300 meters before crashing into a barge.
Cruise Line: RCCL
Ship: Enchantment Of The Sea
Built: 1997
Refurbished: 2005
Registry: Bahamas
Size: 81,500 Gross Tons
Length: 919 feet
Passengers: 2,252
Crew: 780
Webcams: Caribbean > Here
