ms Volendam accidents and incidents

07 September 2022Other Incidents

In August-September 2022, on MS Volendam was conducted a test of biofuels during bunkering at Port Rotterdam. The 20-day testing was in partnership with GoodFuels (Amsterdam-based Dutch producer and supplier of sustainable biofuels) and Wartsila (Finnish manufacturing corporation).

The assessment (completed on September 7th) showed that in the test's first 5 days the vessel used a blended fuel (30% biofuel + 70% MGO/marine gas oil) for one of the auxiliary engines, while in the remaining 15 days was used only marine biofuel (100%) to power the engine.

During the 15 days, GoodFuels' data showed a 78% decrease in lifecycle CO2 emissions compared to MGO emissions. The technology don't require any refits or special equipment to be installed on the ship.

Note: In July 2022, AIDA Cruises (sister company as part of Carnival Corporation) also partnered with Goodfuels to test a biofuel mix on AIDAprima (also in Port Rotterdam). AIDAprima's and Volendam's tests were the first live tests on cruise vessels in operation.

April 2022Other Incidents

In early-April 2022, HAL-Holland America Line announced a 3-month (later extended to 6-month) charter agreement for MS Volendam to serve as a hotel ship for Ukrainian refugees. During the charter period (April 15 thru Sept 15), the vessel remained permanently docked in Port Rotterdam to provide housing for ~1500 Ukrainians, served by ~650 staff/crew.

The charter deal included dining (hot meals), accommodation (staterooms), laundry and cleaning services, free access to all public spaces (including wellness), WiFi Internet (unlimited). Ukrainian-speaking staff was added to the crew.

Following the COVID crisis-related operational pause (2020-2022), the liner was scheduled to restart passenger shipping operations on May 15th, but due to the charter deal, the restart was postponed first thru July 3rd, then thru Sept 24th.

A total of 6 voyages (all roundtrips from homeport Rotterdam, The Netherlands) in 2022 were canceled, including:

• (May 15) 14-day "Voyage Of The Midnight Sun"
• (May 15) 28-day "North Cape and British Isles Explorer"
• (May 29) 14-day "British Isles Explorer"
• (May 29) 35-day "British Isles, Spitsbergen and Iceland Fjords Explorer"
• (June 12) 21-day "Spitsbergen and Icelandic Fjords Explorer"
• (June 12) 35-day "Spitsbergen, Icelandic Fjords and North Cape Explorer"

In mid-May HAL announced that MS Volendam's charter contract is extended thru September 14, 2022, and 12x more voyages were canceled.

• (July 3) 14-day "Voyage Of The Midnight Sun" and 28-day "Midnight Sun Northern Capitals Explorer" - both roundtrips from Rotterdam
• (July 17) 14-day "Northern Capitals Explorer" and  28-day "Northern Capitals and British Isles" - roundtrips from Rotterdam
• (July 31) 14-day "Gems Of Scandinavia and British Isles" and 28-day "Gems Of Scandinavia and British Isles Explorer" - roundtrips from Rotterdam
• (August 14) 14-day "British Isles Explorer" (roundtrip Rotterdam) and 27-day repositioning (from Rotterdam to Civitavecchia-Rome
• (August 28) 13-day from Rotterdam to Civitavecchia-Rome, and 27-day from Rotterdam to Venice
• (September 10) 14-day and 28-day from Rome to Venice

The liner restarted operations on Sept 24th, with the 14-day itinerary "Holy Land and Ancient Kingdoms Explorer" (roundtrip from Trieste-Venice, Italy).

April 2020Other Incidents

(crew repatriation) In mid-April 2020, Carnival Corporation developed a repatriation plan using 8 cruise liners from 3 of its brands - Princess Cruises (ships Caribbean, Crown, Island, Regal), HAL-Holland America Line (ships Volendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Veendam) and Seabourn Cruises (ship Quest) to bring crew back home. The planned relocations (announced on April 18) included:

Caribbean Princess repositioning from The Bahamas to repatriate staff-crew to countries in the Caribbean and South America.

(two Transatlantic crossings) Regal Princess repositioning from Bimini Islands (Bahamas) to Europe (Southampton UK and Rotterdam Holland) to repatriate all European staff-crew. Crown Princess repositioning from Fort Lauderdale (Florida USA) to Asia and South Africa to repatriate all Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(Panama Canal transit) Island Princess repositioning from Fort Lauderdale to Asia to repatriate Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(three Panama Canal transitions) The 3 HAL ships (anchored near Great Harbour Cay Bahamas) - Nieuw Amsterdam, Veendam and Volendam - reposition to Asia to repatriate all HAL's Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(Transatlantic crossing) Seabourn Quest repositioning from Speightstown (aka Little Bristol, Barbados) to Europe, also carrying staff-crew from Seabourn Odyssey (also being anchored near Speightstown).

29 November 2019Ship Grounding

On November 29, 2019, at ~4:15 am, while navigating on Lower Amazon River (en-route to Santarem, Para Brazil), the cruise liner ran aground near Monte Alegre (Brazil's Para State), approx 80 km ( 50 mi) from Santarem. The ship got stuck on a sandbar for ~7 hours. After two unsuccessful attempts to self release off the mud bank, the ship's Captain called for tugboat assistance. No injuries or hull damages were reported. The incident resulted in ~5 hours delayed arrival in Santarem (Para) where an additional hull inspection was conducted.

The accident occurred during the 30-day Amazon Explorer Cruise (itinerary November 20 - December 20) roundtrip from Florida (homeport Fort Lauderdale / Port Everglades) and visiting Saint Barthelemy Island (Gustavia), St Lucia Island (Castries), French Guiana (Iles du Salut), Brazil (Macapa, Santarem, Boca da Valeria, Manaus, Parintins, Santarem, Belem), Barbados (Bridgetown), Aruba Island (Oranjestad), Curacao Island (Willemstad), Jamaica (Falmouth), Grand Cayman Island (George Town) and Florida (Key West).

November 2018Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In November 2018, CDC reported on itinerary Nov 3-18, a Norovirus outbreak affected 60 passengers (out of 1285, or 4,7%) and 8 crew (out of 599, or 1,3%). The ship was on 15-day Panama Canal cruise from San Diego CA to Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale FL) with call ports Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Huatulco Mexico, Puerto Quetzal Guatemala, Corinto Nicaragua, Puntarenas Costa Rica, Cartagena Colombia, and Half Moon Cay Bahamas.

July 2017Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In July 2017, CDC reported on itinerary July 12-19, a Norovirus outbreak affected 68 passengers (out of 1480, or 4,6%) and 1 crew (out of 610, or 0,2%). The ship was on 7-day Alaskan cruise roundtrip from homeport Vancouver BC Canada.

May 2013Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On May 5, 2013, the ship reported a Norovirus outbreak affecting a total of 28 passengers and 1 crew (or 2,4% of all the 1222 guests and staff on board). Because the required threshold of 3% infected was not reached, the illness was not considered an outbreak and was not reported by the CDC. The vessel was on a 31-day cruise to Alaska.

09 December 2012Propulsion / Power Loss

On December 9, 2012, during a repositioning cruise from Australia to Asia, the ship experienced a power loss incident and drifted for ~2 hours while en-route to Hong Kong from Sydney NSW.

08 January 2011Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On January 8, 2011, at ~2 pm, two male crew fell overboard into the water. One of the men (of Indonesian origin, aged 29) was later found drowned. The rescued crew (aged 32) managed to stay afloat. The accident occurred during a lifeboat drill after one of the boat’s ropes snapped.

The ship was docked in call port Lyttelton (Christchurch, New Zealand). Both crews were wearing heavy clothes and boots and were without life jackets.

The investigation report (issued on Nov 25) said the drowned crew could not swim. His body was found later by divers who searched the seabed. Both men were standing on top of the lifeboat, greasing its wire ropes, when one of the wires broke, causing the boat to fall bow down and dangling from the remaining wire.

Both men fell into the water from ~50 ft / 16 m. They both had safety harnesses clipped to a line, but the safety line broke when the lifeboat fell. The later inspection of all lifeboats’ fittings showed 10 of the wires were corroded.

2010Sea Pollution

In 2010, the vessel was 3 times reported for water pollution in Alaska. Tests showed higher levels of zinc (on Jul 9) and copper (on May 14 and May 21) in its wastewater than allowed by the Alaska’s wastewater standards.

2009Sea Pollution

In 2009, the vessel was reported 3 times for water pollution in Alaska, violating the state’s Wastewater Quality Standards. It hugely exceeded the discharged wastewater norms for the Coliform bacteria – 4800 per 100 ml, when the limit is 14 per 100 ml.

18 November 2008Crew / Passenger Injuries and Overboards

On November 18, 2008, while the ship was docked in call port Napier New Zealand, a 75-year-old male passenger (of Dutch origin) fell off the pier’s edge and into the water. One of the crew jumped and rescued him.

The incident happened at ~12:30 p.m. when the elderly passenger was taking pictures of nearby parked vintage cars. While walking backwards, he fell from ~15 ft / 5 m. Suffering only water inhalation, he was disembarked from the ship, transported by an ambulance to Hawke’s Bay Hospital and the next day boarded the ship again in the next call port Tauranga NZ.

January 2008Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In January 2008, CDC reported on voyage Jan 2 to 12, a Norovirus outbreak affected 85 passengers (out of 1451, or 5,9%) and 7 crew (out of 608, or 1,2%).

April 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In April 2007, CDC reported on voyage April 12 to 22, a Norovirus outbreak affected 69 passengers (out of 1427, or 4,8%) and 2 crew (out of 606, or 0,3%).

February 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

January-February 2007, CDC reported on voyage Jan 22 to Feb 1, a Norovirus outbreak affected 105 passengers (out of 1385, or 7,6%) and 7 crew (out of 608, or 1,2%).

March 2006Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In March 2006, CDC reported on the voyage March 3 to 13, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 51 passengers (out of 1412, or 3,6%) and 3 crew (out of 613, or 0,5%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins. The ship was on 10-day Caribbean and Panama Canal cruise itinerary roundtrip from homeport Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) Florida.

2005Other Incidents

In 2005, the cruise liner briefly appeared in a scene of the movie “Into the Blue” (2005) while docked in Nassau Bahamas (at Prince George Wharf).

May 2004Propulsion / Power Loss

In May 2004, during cruise itinerary May 12-30, the ship reported engine problems affecting its propulsion system (the starboard engine became inoperational).

December 2003Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In December 2003, CDC reported on voyage Dec 21 to 28, a total of 53 passengers and 11 crew were quarantined after suffering from Norovirus symptoms (stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea).

Reportedly, on itinerary August 18 to 25, an illness outbreak affected around 100 people.

13 March 2001Fire Accident

On March 13, 2001, the vessel reported a small fire incident in the engine room.