Crown Princess Sails for New York

Published Jul 27, 2006 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

The cruise ship Crown Princess has sailed for New York City just two days after a hard roll injured 260 passengers, two seriously. The ship’s full crew complement and a group of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard were on board, with investigations and equipment tests planned along the way. The ship was sailing off the Florida coast last week when it rolled 15 degrees to its right, throwing passengers and other unsecured objects against the deck and bulkheads. Two passengers remain hospitalized.

Christened just last month, the crew reported a steering problem aboard the vessel. At the time of the incident, the ship was sailing in calm seas, on autopilot and the Master was not on the bridge. Preliminary investigations indicate that a computer glitch in the ship's autopilot may have been to blame. Investigators also are asking why the ship’s crew did not immediately conduct a head count after the incident. Blood alcohol tests on the vessel’s Master came back negative.

A similar incident occurred in February aboard cruise ship Grand Princess, also owned by Princess Cruises, on the U.S. Gulf coast. During that incident, crewmembers and passengers were also injured. Investigators decided that the cause of that event was human error.