At 1328:21 on 11 May 2015, the Bahamas registered Hamburg cruise ship grounded on charted rocks near the New Rocks buoy in the Sound of Mull, Scotland. The accident caused considerable raking damage to the hull and rendered the port propeller, shaft and rudder unserviceable.
There were no injuries and the vessel continued on its passage to Tobermory.
The investigation found that, having been unable to enter Tobermory Bay on arrival, the passage plan was not re-evaluated or amended. Combined with poor bridge team management and navigational practices, this resulted in the vessel running into danger and grounding. Despite the loud noise and vibration resulting from the grounding, the bridge team did not initiate the post-grounding checklist, no musters were held and neither the managers of the Hamburg cruise ship, nor any shore authorities were notified of the accident.
Upon arrival at Tobermory Bay, the master made an ill-considered and poorly executed attempt at anchoring just within the bay’s entrance instead of the planned position in the
south of the bay. This had to be aborted to avoid a second grounding when Hamburg dragged its anchor. The passenger vessel was then taken back out to the open sea with
unknown damage to its structure, before diverting to Belfast where a dive survey revealed the extent of the damage. The Hamburg cruise ship was withdrawn from service for 3 months for repairs.
Following actions taken by V.Ships Group, Tobermory Harbour Association, the Northern Lighthouse Board, the UK Hydrographic Office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency,
no recommendations have been made in this report.
Read the report in full: MAIB-Report-on-hamburg-cruise-ship-grounding-2016_06
