Video: Heavy Lift Ship Raises Carnival Vista Out of the Water

In a 12-hour evolution on Saturday, the Boskalis semi-submersible heavy lift ship BOKA Vanguard successfully floated the cruise ship Carnival Vista aboard in order to facilitate repairs at a shipyard in the Bahamas. 

The BOKA Vanguard is the largest vessel of her type, and she has enough capacity to lift and carry the 4,000 passenger Carnival Vista. The Vista is experiencing technical difficulties with her azipods, and she needs to be drydocked in order to carry out the repairs. After the loss of Grand Bahama Shipyard's largest floating drydock in April, the nearest conventional solution for drydocking a vessel of Vista's size would be overseas - but the Vanguard could come right to the site. She will serve as a temporary drydock while repairs are carried out, and the Vista will only be out of service for 17 days and three sailings. The cruise ship is expected to resume her normal schedule later in the month.