P&O UK's cruise passengers injured after Britannia ship crashes into an oil tanker in palma de Mallorca

   August 29, 2023 ,   Accidents

In a weather-related incident that occurred on Sunday, August 27th, P&O UK's Britannia ship moored in Palma de Mallorca encountered a situation that led to a small number of injuries, according to a company spokesperson.

Port Palma's authorities reported that the cruiser had collided with a petrol tanker due to high winds, causing her to break free from its moorings during a storm.

MS Britannia remained docked in Palma for the night to allow technical teams to assess the situation. Despite the incident, onboard entertainment and activities were still scheduled to take place.

Unfortunately, the conducted third-party inspection found that one of the lifeboats was damaged and couldn't be repaired while on the ship. To meet the maritime regulations and to be able to secure the safety of all on board, Britannia disembarked a total of 321 people (passengers and crew). From Palma de Mallorca Airport they were flown back home.

The 2015-built Britannia has LOA length 330 m/ 1083 ft, volume 143000 GT-tons, 17 decks, 1837 staterooms, max capacity 4406 passengers plus 1350 crew/staff.

This incident occurred amidst heavy rains affecting the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, and Catalonia in northeastern Spain. The adverse weather also led to flight delays at Barcelona airport due to high winds.