Cargo ship hits Mariner of the Seas while docked in Freeport

In:
20 Apr 2022
By: 
Matt Hochberg

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship was hit at a slow speed while the ship was docked today. 

Mariner of the Seas was docked in Freeport, Bahamas on Wednesday when a cargo vessel made contact with the ship.  

It appears the vessel that hit Mariner was the Tropic Freedom vessel.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog writer Allie Hubers was onboard Mariner at the time of the incident, and reported another vessel hit the stern of Mariner.

The Captain of Mariner of the Seas immediately made an announcement that everything is under control.

Ms. Hubers said the Captain told guests, "a boat bounced into us on our stern."

A Royal Caribbean International spokesperson confirmed the incident and that Mariner suffered only "minor damage", "Today, in Freeport, The Bahamas, a cargo vessel made contact with Mariner of the Seas while the ship was docked."

"No one was injured on board, and Mariner experienced minimal damage. The ship will continue on its itinerary as planned."

Ironically, Mariner of the Seas was in Freeport today after a last-minute itinerary change was announced yesterday. Guests were informed instead of a sea day, Mariner was going to visit Freeport so the ship could undergo maintenance. No word was shared what sort of maintenance work was necessary.

Not a collision

If you want to get technical, the impact to Mariner of the Seas was not a collision, but an allision.

Commander Don Goldstein, Retired United States Coast Guard, pointed out that based on the photos he has seen, because Mariner was moored when it was hit by the other vessel, it made for an allision.

"Only the Coast Guard investigators and lawyers use that word, but it mean a moving vessel his a stationary vessel, dock, etc."


Matt started Royal Caribbean Blog in 2010 as a place to share his passion for all things Royal Caribbean with readers. He oversees all the writers at Royal Caribbean Blog, and writes a great deal of content on a daily basis.  He has become one of the foremost experts on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Over the years, he has reached Pinnacle Club status with Royal Caribbean's customer loyalty program.

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