Cruise Ship Millennium Hits Rocks Requiring Propeller Replacement

[OceanAngel]

An "electrical malfunction" aboard the cruise ship Millennium has been blamed for allowing the Celebrity ship to drift onto submerged rocks July 2 while anchored off Villefranche, damaging its propellers and forcing it to limp into Rome's port of Civitavecchia for repairs.

The accident, which occurred on the second full day of a 12-night Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venice, cut the cruise ship's speed by half and forced a rejuggling of the Millennium's itinerary that changed by the day.

After the cruise ship arrived in Rome, divers from the United States, Norway and the Netherlands trained in performing underwater repairs were flown in to work around-the-clock installing new four-ton propeller blades airlifted from the U.S. and Sweden.

The repairs took longer than expected, and as a result of the accident, Celebrity ultimately was forced to cancel not only Millenium's port call at Livorno (the port for Florence), but also to scrub visits to Naples, the island of Santorini and Athens.

The line said repairs would be completed by late on July 7th, and the ship would make an unplanned stop at Corfu as well as a scheduled visit to Dubrovnik en route back to Venice, where it was to resume its regular Mediterranean summer schedule July 12th.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said passengers aboard the ship were being given a full refund of the cost of their cruise, and were also being provided with free bus tours to Florence, Pompeii and Sorrento (four-to-five hours each way) while stuck in Civitavecchia

http://www.cruise-ship-report.com/News/070707.htm

[JoeyandDavid]

Thinking back to our cruise ...we would have been just as perturbed...

[Brady121291]

Thank god it wasn't another sea diamond

[CanadianCruiser]

Update

Celebrity Millennium -- which has been in a dry dock in Palermo for the last week, will set sail today for Barcelona, according to a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. spokesman. The July 24 cruise is expected to operate as planned and on schedule.

The cruise line canceled Millennium's June 30 and July 12 voyages after the ship struck rocks off Villefranche, necessitating repairs to several propeller blades. These fixes have now been completed.