Earlier yesterday, multiple sources began to report that Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas had apparently sailed from Nassau, Bahamas with one less lifeboat. Today, sources are reporting on a similar incident that occurred on Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas only a few weeks ago.
According to our sources, these incidents aboard the Allure of the Seas and Legend of the Seas both stem from malfunctions in their lifeboat raising and lowering cables.
On Allure’s latest sailing, departing Port Everglades on December 9th, a Cruise Critic member who was sailing on the voyage reported that a cable raising a lifeboat from the water snapped as the lifeboat ascended. The incident apparently took place during a routine lifeboat maneuvering exercise in Nassau. The ship proceeded to depart Nassau later that evening, leaving the one lifeboat behind.
On Legend of the Sea’s November 25th sailing from Los Angeles, the ship suffered a similar cable snapping while performing another lifeboat maneuvering exercise in Cabo San Lucas. Just as Allure of the Seas did, the ship left their lifeboat in the port and departed.
Both cruise ships were able to leave their lifeboats in their respective ports, as each ship is required by SOLAS and international maritime law to carry extra evacuation equipment in case lifeboats or life rafts become inoperable during an emergency situation or in a situation similar to the one experienced these past few weeks.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed the incidents to Cruise Currents:
“On November 25, 2013, while Legend of the Seas’ was anchored off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the mechanism that holds one of the lifeboats malfunctioned. Legend of the Seas continued on the sailing without that one lifeboat. When Legend of the Seas returned to Cabo San Lucas on November 29, 2013, the lifeboat was recovered and reattached to the ship.
On December 9, 2013, while Allure of the Seas was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, the mechanism that holds one of the lifeboats malfunctioned. Allure of the Seas continued on the sailing without the one lifeboat.
For both incidents, because our ships carry extra lifesaving vessels at all times we are able to continue our sailing.”
2 replies on “2 Royal Caribbean Ships Sail With Missing Lifeboats”
Not a good situation! I suspect Royal Caribbean is having a fit over this issue!
But, as you so carefully discussed, all these ships, by law, have vastly more lifeboat capacity than required to accomodate all passengers…..so, this should be chalked up to normal maintenance issues. (“Stuff happens” category.)
Thanks for being so on top of these kind of stories, Mike!
Just be glad that these malfunctions happened during a lifeboat exercise and not when they actually needed to be used! That would have been a disaster!