A luxury cruise liner with more than 2,000 people onboard was reported as ‘dead in the water’ off the Victorian coast.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s 91,000 tonne vessel, Norwegian Star, has been towed into Port Phillip Bay after it lost power about 70km from the city early morning on the 9th of February.
The line have confirmed that the ship’s propulsion system stopped working when it was en route to Tasmania on a voyage from Melbourne to New Zealand and was then expected to skip several ports of call.
@TravelMortician – Guess Whaaaat? We’re adrift 70 miles out of Melbourne. 2nd Azipod broke. Getting tow back to Melbourne #NorwegianStar
— Mark E Matz (@MarkEMatz) February 9, 2017
A spokeswoman said at the time of the incident: ‘The ship has full power and all on-board services are fully operational. All guest amenities remain open and the weather conditions are favourable. The ship is in no danger whatsoever and the comfort and safety of our guests and crew are unaffected by this situation’.
The spokeswoman furthered that ‘In the event any guest wishes to disembark once the ship returns to port, Norwegian will provide them with a credit of up to $350 per person for a flight to Auckland and provide up to $300 per ticket for a change fee allowance if a guest wishes to fly home immediately’.
It is the second round of engine trouble to strike the ship after it departed from Hong Kong on January 16th for Sydney; the ship also experienced a problem with the propulsion system and several port stops had to be scrapped to make it to Sydney on schedule.
A previous letter signed by the Norwegian Star’s Master Mattias Andersson described this problem as ‘unforeseen’ and furthered: ‘We apologise for the change in schedule and thank you for your patience during this necessary itinerary change in order to make these required repairs’.
Since last week’s incident on Norwegian Star an NCL’s spokeswoman has stated: ‘Norwegian takes this matter very seriously, as all guests are entitled to a safe and hospitable environment in which to enjoy their holiday.’
But what are your thoughts on today’s news? Do you think NCL handled the incident well? All passengers were promised credit and alternative solutions immediately as compensation, would you be satisfied with this if you were onboard? Have you sailed with NCL before? Leave us your comments!
