Repairs to Berth III Underway After Cruise Ship AllisionBy MARY KAUFFMAN
June 09, 2016
According to information provided by the City of Ketchikan, engineers from Moffatt & Nichol and sub-consultant Alaska Commercial Divers inspected the facility on June 4th and June 5th along with City staff and contractors Pool Engineering and Turnagain Construction. Pool Engineering also performed some preliminary work on the evening of June 3rd to stabilize several damaged elements of the facility.
Celebrity Infinity allision on Friday with Berth III
Work began on June 7th. The contract includes a requirement for the facility to be repaired and usable no later than July 5, 2016, which is four weeks for the date the work commenced. Until the Berth III facility is fully repaired it is expected that ships scheduled to moor there will be directed to one of the other three berths if available and to lighter passengers to the vicinity of Berth III and/or Berth IV if possible when no other berths are available. After additional discussions, and given that the Berth III tendering float will be within the construction zone and therefore not accessible for use by the public, the following will be the schedule for lightering until repairs are completed. On Fridays, when Berth I is available in the morning, the Norwegian Pearl will offload passengers at Berth I between 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.; the vessel will then anchor out and lighter passengers from and to Casey Moran Harbor beneath Sockeye Sam’s. On days where there are two ships at anchor, one ship will lighter to and from Casey Moran Harbor beneath Sockeye Sam’s, the other ship will lighter to and from the Berth IV South Float. Additionally, when there is a ship at anchor, they may have the option of docking at an available Berth after earlier ships depart. City staff also intends to offer Casey Moran Harbor for charter boat operators to load and unload passengers in a cooperative effort with the ship’s tenders. Coast Guard investigators from Marine Safety Detachment Ketchikan were called to the scene Friday after the Celebrity Infinity allided with Berth III.
Damage to Celebrity Infiity after allision with Berth III, winds were reported at 45 miles per hour.
"The Coast Guard is grateful no one was injured as a result of this accident," said Lt. Dianna Robinson, command duty officer at Sector Juneau. "Our personnel are working to determine the cause of this accident and will work with local partners to ensure the continued safety of those using the cruise ship docks." According to the USCG, weather on scene was reported to be gusting at 45-miles per hour. Denise Dawson wrote on FaceBook, "Just finished a cruise to Alaska with Celebrity Infinity, the ship crashed into the dock at our last port of call ! Not a great deal of damage to the ship just bent 2 cabin walls . I think it will cost a fortune to repair the dock !!" She wrote, "We received $200 compensation for the inconvenience from Celebrity. It was one of the best run ships we have been on fantastic food and service." Celebrity Infinity has an occupancy of 2170. Her length is 925 feet with a tonnage of 91,000. According to a posting on Twitter by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, the Celebrity Infinity was cleared by authorities and set sail from Ketchikan to continue on her scheduled itinerary. Celebrity Infinity is owned and operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. which is an American global cruise company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation. As of March 2009, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. fully owns three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara Club Cruises. A video of the Celebrity Infinity crashing into the dock was shared on YouTube by Maria Harvey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPNfLmcUO0
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