Did you know that Monarch of the Seas is believed to be cursed according to some people. This is due to the fact that since Monarch of the Seas was built in 1991, there has been 4 serious incidents that have occured. I decided to talk about the ‘curses’ today, as one of the incidents happened 13 years ago exactly – (unlucky for some!).
Grounding off St. Maarten
After evacuating a sick passenger at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, on 15 December 1998, Monarch of the Seas grazed a reef while departing. This opened a 40 by 2 metres (130 by 6.6 ft) gash along the starboard hull. The ship started taking water and began to sink by the head. Three of her watertight compartments were completely flooded and several others partially flooded. She was intentionally grounded on a sandbar to prevent any further sinking. All passengers were evacuated by crew members and local tender operators. Thankfully no lives were lost. The grounding breached 2 diesel fuel tanks and an overflow tank. As a result, it caused a small fuel spill of approximately 100 US gallons (380 l; 83 imp gal). There was also severe damage to the ship. A joint investigation by the Norwegian Maritime Investigator and the US Coast Guard found that the accident was due to “a myriad of human performance deficiencies.” Reports also indicated that navigation out of the port was done by eye rather than use of electronic navigation and that the relocation of a vital buoy was not reflected on charts. The ship was drydocked at Atlantic Marine’s Mobile, Alabama facilities for major repairs, mainly to the ships hull. One-hundred and fourteen of the ship’s compartments had to be cleaned. The work also included the replacement of machinery, 460 tons of shell plating, and 18 miles (29 km) of electrical wiring.
Gas Leak
While docked in the port of Los Angeles on February 2005, maintenance on a sewage pipe caused a small amount of raw sewage and an unknown amount of hydrogen sulfide gas to escape. Three crew members, Boris Dimitrov of Bulgaria; Willie Tirol of The Philippines and Radomilja Frane of Croatia, were killed and 19 others were injured. Reports said that the deaths were almost instantaneous as the crew members were not wearing breathing apparatus at the time.
Captains Death
38 year old Captain Joern Rene Klausen was found dead in his stateroom aboard the Monarch of the Seas in the early morning of January 30, 2006. The ship was returning to Los Angeles from a three-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. According to reports, the death appeared to be of “natural causes”.
2010 New Year suicide
A 23-year old woman passenger jumped off the 11th deck of the ship around 4am on Thursday, December 31, 2009. The woman was reported missing by her husband, a Royal Caribbean employee.
If you like this, then why not read more cruise facts at www.rcifans.com/cruisefacts
