MS Roald Amundsen accidents and incidents

MS Roald Amundsen cruise ship
Rating:

Cabins
265

Length (LOA)
140 m / 459 ft

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CruiseMapper's MS Roald Amundsen cruise ship accidents, incidents and law news reports relate to a 600-passenger vessel owned by Hurtigruten. Our MS Roald Amundsen accidents page contains reports made by using official data from renown online news media sources, US Coast Guard and Wikipedia.

Here are also reported latest updates on cruise law news related to ashore and shipboard crimes still investigated by the police. Among those could be arrests, filed lawsuits against the shipowner / cruise line company, charges and fines, grievances, settled / withdrawn legal actions, lost cases, virus outbreaks, etc.

  • delayed delivery
  • crimes - luggage robbery (Punta Arenas Chile)
  • Coronavirus - 2020 (42 crew, 29 pax)

31 July 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus outbreak) On July 31, 2020, Norwegian media first reported that 4 crew on the Hurtigruten ship Roald Amundsen tested positive for COVID-19. The ship departed Tromso on a 7-day Svalbard cruise with 170 tourists. On July 31, the boat docked back in Tromso and all passengers were allowed to disembark.

During the voyage (departure July 24), two of the crew showed flu-like symptoms, quarantined on the ship for several days, then in Tromso ambulanced, tested and confirmed positive. The infected were hospitalized at Tromso's Universitetssykehuset Nord-Norge (UNN - University Hospital of North Norway). In a press release, the UNN stated that the hospitalized are "foreign nationals".

The shipowner Hurtigruten commented that the Coronavirus testing was routine (crew-only) and that all the ship's remaining staff-crew (158) are currently quarantined onboard and will be tested. Hurtigruten added that all passengers on the last voyages - departures July 17 (209 pax) and July 24 (177 pax) were contacted by the company and informed (via SMS) about the incident. The next scheduled departure was cancelled (July 31, 7-day roundtrip from Tromso to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen Island / planned arrival on August 4).

The Norwegian health authorities required that all passengers and crew from the July 24 voyage enter quarantine. On August 1, Hurtigruten reported that a total of 33 crew test results (the 4 hospitalized plus 29 new) returned positive for COVID-19 after the ship's entire staff (162) had been tested. Later that day, the number of infected grew to 36 (of whom 32 Filipino). On August 3, a total of four passengers (from both cruises) tested Coronavirus-positive. Hurtigruten cancelled Roald Amundsen's all scheduled departures through August 31.

On August 3, Hurtigruten temporarily suspended all expedition cruises (on the ships Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and Spitsbergen) until further notice. The decision didn't impact Hurtigruten’s Norwegian coastal ferry operations. On Aug 7, the NIPH (Norwegian Institute of Public Health) reported that the number of infected grew to 62 (41 crew + 21 passengers). All infected passengers were Norwegian residents. On August 20, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew to 71 (29 passengers plus 42 crew).

Note: Hurtigruten became the world's first ocean cruise company to resume passenger shipping operations (on June 16) when the ship Otto Sverdrup (Finnmarken) departed from Bergen to Kirkenes. Roald Amundsen resumed voyages on July 17 with 7-day roundtrips to Svalbard from Tromso.

19 February 2020Other Incidents

On February 19, 2020, at 4:14 pm (Antarctica time / GMT+13), under the command of Captain Torry Sakkariassen, the cruise ship reached the ice edge at 70-degree south. This was the furthest south location reached by a Hurtigruten vessel in the company’s 127 years of passenger shipping operations.

Next table list the 18-day "Chilean Fjords, Antarctica and Falklands" cruise roundtrip from Valparaiso.

Date / TimePort
15 FebDeparting from Valparaiso-Santiago, Chile (flight)
15 FebPunta Arenas, Chile
16 FebChilean Fjords, Patagonia
17 Feb - 18 FebDrake Passage, Antarctica
19 FebHalf Moon Island, Antarctica
20 FebBrown Bluff, Antarctica
21 FebCuverville Island, Antarctica
22 FebAntarctic Peninsula
23 FebLemaire Channel, Antarctica
24 FebNeko Harbour, Antarctica
25 FebWiencke Island, Port Lockroy, Antarctica
27 Feb - 29 FebFalkland Islands, Islas Malvinas (overnight)
01 MarStrait of Magellan, Chile
02 MarPunta Arenas, Chilean Antarctica
02 MarArriving in Valparaiso-Santiago (flight)

The voyage was priced from ~USD 7400 (EUR 6830) per person.

28 November 2019Crew / Passenger Crimes

On November 28, 2019, the ship's departure from homeport Punta Arenas (Chile) was delayed due to robbery ashore. A group of robbers stole ~200 pieces of luggage by hijacking the truck that transported the bags to the berthed cruise vessel.

The hijacked vehicle was later found, but without the passengers' luggage. None of the passengers were robbed, but 15 decided to cancel the voyage to Antarctica. Hurtigruten assisted the affected passengers by supplying them with clothes and necessary items for the cruise, which fares started at ~USD 5500 pp (~EUR 4900).

The incident occurred at the beginning of 18-day "Chilean Fjords, Antarctica and Falklands" fly-cruise" (itinerary November 28 - December 16) roundtrip from homeport Valparaiso (Santiago, Chile flights to/from departure port Punta Arenas) and visiting destinations in Chilean Patagonia, Drake Passage (transit), Antarctica (Half Moon Island, Brown Bluff, Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Neko Harbour, Wiencke Island), Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and Magellan Strait (transit).

26 February 2018Other Incidents

The vessel was scheduled for delivery in July 2018. However, due to financial problems, Kleven Shipyard (Ulsteinvik Norway) delayed the delivery to Hurtigruten, re-scheduling the inaugural cruise for May 3, 2019 (leaving from Lisbon Portugal). Hurtigruten's official statement was issued on February 26, 2018.

On May 24, 2018, Hurtigruten announced that Fridtjof Nansen's launch will be also affected (pushed back) due to Roald Amundsen's delayed launch and "the complexity of the construction". Fridtjof Nansen's Antarctica cruise schedule (2019-2020) was added to MS Midnatsol (now Maud).

All booked customers received full refunds (cruise and reimbursements for cancelled flights) plus booking discounts on alternative Hurtigruten expedition cruise itineraries.

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