Seventy-Five Knots Was More Than the Ropes Could Hold

AIDAperla was alongside at Quai Pierre Callet in Le Havre on 8 September when the weather did something mooring lines are not designed to survive. Gusts recorded at around 75 knots — hurricane force — parted the ship’s forward lines, and the 3,286-guest vessel began drifting backwards until she struck a quay wall. Nobody aboard was hurt, which given the mass involved is the headline fact of the incident. The ship had left Hamburg three days earlier on a seven-night cruise and was midway through her itinerary when the wind arrived.

The port’s response was immediate and broad. HAROPA Port, which runs Le Havre, temporarily suspended harbour operations while emergency crews secured the drifting ship and cleared debris from the water. AIDAperla was not the only vessel at risk: TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 3 was also alongside, and tugs were pressed into service to physically hold her in position so she did not go the same way. That precaution cost Mein Schiff 3 a two-hour departure delay, a small price for not adding a second loose cruise ship to an already difficult afternoon.

For AIDAperla’s passengers the consequence was a rewritten itinerary. The ship missed her scheduled call at Zeebrugge on 9 September and a further call at Rotterdam on 10 September while she underwent inspection and waited for clearance from her classification society — the body that has to certify a hull is structurally sound before it carries passengers again. Two lost ports out of a seven-night cruise is a substantial chunk of the holiday, and AIDA Cruises confirmed both cancellations rather than attempting substitute calls.

The incident is a reminder of a vulnerability that rarely gets discussed in cruise marketing: a large modern cruise ship is essentially a very tall, very light box, and alongside in a strong crosswind it presents an enormous sail area with nothing but rope and bollards resisting it. European autumn storms have produced several breakaway incidents in recent years. Carnival Corporation, AIDA’s parent, saw its shares dip on the news before recovering, and the structural inspection results will determine how quickly Perla returns to her published schedule.

Sources: The Maritime Executive, Cruise Hive