A routine, unmanned test of a lifeboat on the Carnival Cruise Line/CCL ship Carnival Dream resulted in significant damage to the watercraft while the vessel was docked in Cozumel, Mexico (Nov 19th).
The incident occurred during a scheduled safety inspection when the lifeboat was being lowered.
According to CCL, a malfunction took place whereby a latch became caught on one of the lowering cables.
This caused the lifeboat to hang precariously from a single point before it detached and fell into the water.
The company confirmed that no injuries resulted from the event.
Photographic evidence from the scene depicted the bright-orange lifeboat suspended at an angle before its descent and showed the damaged craft subsequently adrift in the water near the pier, with sections of it remaining attached to the ship's side.
Carnival Dream was concluding a 6-night voyage roundtrip from Galveston, with the incident occurring during its final port call before the scheduled return to Texas.
For more Carnival Dream incidents and accidents, see the ship's CruiseMinus page.