| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
Incident |
| 22.12.09 | Boudicca | BBC reports 50 passengers have reported ill with norovirus on a four day mini cruise from Portsmouth to Zeebrugge and Amsterdam that departed December 18th. This is the second cruise in a row with an illness outbreak. | Illness |
| 18.12.09 | Boudicca | The Portsmouth News reports up to 300 passengers are believed to have been struck by norovirus, which causes sickness and diarrhea. The sick passengers were kept on board while they recovered. A passenger said, 'It was a very serious outbreak of the novovirus bug, which broke out about four or five days into the cruise after we had left Portsmouth. Some people, many of them quite elderly, have been very sick." The ship left Portsmouth on Sunday 6 December on a 12 day cruise, calling at Madeira, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lisbon. The BBC reports the number ill was 180 passengers and crew. | Illness |
| 19.11.09 | Black Watch | The BBC reports a 23 year old man and 20 year old woman from Surrey were detained by UK Border Agency officers as the man disembarked at Southampton docks. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said 1.5kg (3.3lb) of cocaine with an estimated street value of £70,000 was seized from a male passenger. | Drug bust |
| 25.10.09 | Balmoral | Nova News reports: After weeks of planning and getting ready, the ship sailed by Shelburne (Nova Scotia) this morning to the disappointment of many. The ship and its 1,300 passengers were scheduled to spend the day in Shelburne, but the visit was cancelled Sunday morning as heavy rains and high winds hit the area. | Skipped port call |
| 21.10.09 | Black Watch | A passenger writes: I was a passenger on board the Black Watch on 21.10.09. The pilot had been taken on board to guide the ship into La Coruna Harbour (Spain) at around 11.00 am. Rough winds were battering the local coastline but the weather was otherwise fine and the approach into La Caruna was otherwise unremarkable. Apparently, due to the pilot with the captain's permission misreading red and green marker bouys, and taking the wrong line into the harbour, the ship was steered into dangerous waters on its approach and in a very short space of time, ie 15 minutes, was unbalanced and listed severely resulting in passengers flying across the reception rooms on chairs, cabins and balcony doors/windows being damaged and the ship taking on water. | Severe list |
| 18.10.09 | Boudicca | The Daily Mail reports sixteen passengers on a Mediterranean cruise have been confined to their cabins after their ship was hit by the norovirus sickness bug. They were isolated after the ship left Venice yesterday with 850 passengers on board. The outbreak appeared to start last week when the ship’s doctor confined himself to his own quarters, suspecting he had the highly contagious bug which causes sickness and diarrhoea. Update: Travel Weekly reports 57 passengers out of the 1,140 onboard Boudicca have so far been affected by gastroenteritis-like symptoms. Twenty-seven passengers remain in isolation, including six who are under observation. The ship, which is on a 21-night cruise of the Adriatic, departed Portsmouth on October 5 and is due to end in Portsmouth October 26. | Norovirus |
| 9.9.09 | Balmoral | STV reports seventy-two passengers have been struck down by an outbreak of norovirus. The Balmoral is currently anchored off Portree, Skye – with severe gales preventing it from berthing in the harbour. The liner departed Invergordon on Monday night with a reported 18 cases of the bug among its 1,280 passengers and 516 crew. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have confirmed that those affected with the virus have been confined to their cabins. The Press and Journal puts the number of ill passengers at 78; other sources indicate 2 crew members have reported ill. UPDATE September 14: TTGLive reports the current cruise arrived in Dover a day early so the ship could undergo deep cleaning in advance of the next cruise - a 12 day cruise of the Baltic. The number of passengers ill is reported to have been about 100. | Norovirus |
| 4.3.09 |
Balmoral | Metro.co.uk reports the ship made emergency calls after encountering "suspicious"
activity from two small craft in notorious waters off Somalia. Military
sources involved in monitoring the protected zone of the Gulf of Aden
said the incident yesterday was "a false alarm". But a spokeswoman for
Fred Olsen said: "Balmoral encountered suspicious activity by two small
craft, closing at high speed. The ship's master requested passengers to
assemble in 'safe havens' as part of a pre-planned safety procedure.
Aggressive manoeuvring was implemented and contact was made with the EU
Coalition Task Force." The ship is expected to arrive in Salalah
tomorrow on schedule. |
Pirate threat |
| 6.2.09 |
Balmoral | The Daily Express and BBC reports more than 230 people (about 13%) on board an 18-day cruise of the Canary Islands and west Africa have been taken ill after an outbreak of norovirus on their ship. About 50 passengers remain confined to their cabins by the bug. The cruise operator said the liner was refused entry the Cape Verde Islands following the outbreak. The ship was now heading for the Canary Islands. | Illness |
| 20.1.09 |
Balmoral | BBC
reports that two passengers have been taken to hospital with broken
bones after the ship was hit by 50ft waves and winds of 60 mph in the
Bay of Biscay. The ship docked in the Spanish port of La Coruna after
setting sail from Dover January 17; it is due back in Dover on 27
January. |
Injuries in high seas |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2008 |
Incident |
| 21.11.08 |
Boudicca |
Cruising
Talk reports the ship sustained minor damage to her
bow whilst in Barbados. The port authorities were shifting her to
another berth to allow for Ventura and due to high winds Boudicca
caught another cross berth. The damage caused a 7ft dent which needed
to be repaired before leaving for Castries. She was due to depart on
the 21st but has delayed that til the 22nd to allow for repairs to be
made. See picture here. |
Collision with pier -- Delayed departure |
| 29.10.08 |
Black Watch | The Daily
Telegraph reports that two passengers were taken to hospital after
they were thrown into the sea when the ship broke free of its moorings
while docked in Bilbao, northern Spain. The elderly passengers and a
crew member were crossing the gangplank when ropes snapped and the ship
swung away from the quayside. All three were rescued from the water and
taken to a local hospital. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines confirmed that an
incident had taken place on Wednesday afternoon at around 2pm and said
two passengers were being treated in a local hospital. "The Black Watch
was docked in Bilbao when it was hit by high winds which caused the
ship to pull away from the pier and the gangplank became detached,"
said Mike Rodwell managing director of the Ipswich-based company. The
ship sustained no damage in the incident and left port shortly after
the scheduled time of 6pm bound for the port of Honfleur in Normandy,
France. |
Gangplank collapses |
| 16.10.08 |
Balmoral | An
unknown number of noro type illness was reported current cruise; the
next cruise (BL026) had delayed embarkation til 1800 to accommodate
increased cleaning of the vessle. |
Illness |
| 16.10.08 |
Boudicca | The company announced that a 3 day mini cruise this weekend
is cancelled due to rudder damage on the current cruise. The ship's
departure for the Caribbean on Oct 21 is not affected. |
Cancellation |
| 16.9.08 |
Balmoral |
The company
has announced that the cruise ending/beginning September 18 will
arrive/leave from Southampton instead of Dover. The reason for the
change is "technical concerns experienced with the vessel's propulsion
system." |
Itinerary change |
| 28.1.08 |
Balmoral |
The ship's inaugural sailing scheduled for January 30 has
been canaceled. After arriving in Dover four days later than panned, a
number of unforseen technical isues emerged and led to the cancelation.
The Caribbean cruise scheduled for February 13 remains on schedule. |
Canceled Sailing |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
Incident |
| 18.9.07 |
Black Prince | A 29-night round trip voyage from Liverpool was cut short
following damage to the ship's propeller. Two subsequent cruises
have also been cancelled to allow for repairs. The ship was on
its homeward leg while in the Corinth Canal when it sustained the
damage; the decision to end the cruise was made after divers in
Algeciras found more extensive damage than had originally been
assessed. The ship will proceed to drydock for repairs. |
Damaged Propeller -- Cruise Cancelled |
| 28.7.07 |
Black Watch | The
ship, with 700 passengers, was quarantined at Stockholm after an outbreak of
Legionnaires disease onboard. Seven elderly passengers were taken
to hospital while the
remaining passengers were not allowed to go ashore. The ship was
disinfected and then left on its return voyage to the UK, returning to
Dover two days earlier than originally scheduled. Tests onboard
the ship have not yet located the source of the illness; there is
suspicion that the source may have been onshore. |
Illness -- Legionnaires |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 and earlier |
Incident |
| 7.7.06 |
Black Prince |
The ship was deep-cleaned after the illness outbreak on the
previous cruise. This caused a delayed departure and shortened
the cruise to Copenhagen and St. Petersburg from 12 days to 10
days. As the cruise line materially changed the itinerary,
passengers could cancel without penalty -- approximately 20 percent of
passengers booked on the cruise departing today cancelled out. |
Itinerary change |
| 4.7.06 |
Black Prince |
About 100 passengers have been affected by a vomiting virus similar to the one that hit the vessel earlier in June. On that trip, 136 passengers were confirmed to have been affected by norovirus. A hand full of passengers were ill on the cruise that followed and then a large outbreak on the current cruise which left Leith on June 22 and returned from its 13 day excursion of Iceland and Greenland on July 5. The ship will be thoroughly disinfected before the next cruise (including replacement of carpets and some furnishings). | Illness |
| 9.6.06 |
Black Prince |
126 of 412 (30%) passengers contracted gastronintenstinal intestinal illness during the current cruise (84 (20.38%) were reportedly quarantined). The ship left Leith, Edinburgh on a seven day cruise to the Norwegian fjords and is due back in port on Saturday. It will depart for its next cruise one day late in order to fully sanitize the ship. | Illness |
| 27.4.04 |
Black Prince |
Enroute
to her first journey after engine repairs, the ship
broke down just off Southampton docks. 412 passengers waiting to
take a mini-cruise to Ireland and the Channel Islands had to wait until
evening for the ship's arrival, which had been left without power. |
Engine failure |
| 29.3.04 |
Black Prince |
One
of the ship's two main engines broke down on its transatlantic
crossing. The March 11th cruise ended on March 29, and the
following cruise is also cancelled. The ship will re-enter
sevrvice April 27. |
Engine Breakdown / Cancellation |
| 5.12.02 |
Black Watch |
Mechanical
trouble --
problem with one of the engines and a propeller -- and delayed 2 days
in arrival into the port at Southampton. The next cruise was
delayed. |
Engine problems |
| 3.12.02 |
Black Watch |
Mechanical
problems with one of the engines and a propeller
forced the ship to slow down, causing it to arrive at Southampton two
days late. The following cruise is delayed. |
Engine problems |
| 4.3.02 | Black
Prince |
Ran aground on a sand bank while leaving Casilda, Cuba. After several unsuccessful attempts to free ship, passengers evacuated and bused to Havana for flights home. | Grounded |
| 14.1.98 |
Black Prince |
Ran into a freak wave that
smached three windows on the bvridge and caused electrical equipment to
fail. The ship returned to Dover for repairs and then resumed its
cruise. |
Freak wave |
NOTES:
Black Prince left fleet in 2009 -- in November 2009 it was sold to the Venezuelan company Servicios Acuaticos de Venezuela Saveca C.A. (known as Saveca).