During operations at MSC Cruises’ private island Ocean Cay on Thursday, February 5th, strong winds affected mooring conditions for the ship MSC Seaside. Several securing ropes failed under load, and the ship's forward section moved away from the pier while a number of passengers were still ashore. The stern remained secured to the berth, but with the bow no longer held firmly alongside the dock, those disembarking were held on the pier until the situation could be stabilised.
The ship's bridge team responded by engaging the bow thrusters to manoeuvre the vessel back into position against the quay. Once the vessel was realigned and held securely, gangway connections were restored and embarked passengers returned to the ship. There were no reports of personal injury, and assessments indicated no significant structural harm to the ship or to the pier infrastructure.
At the time of the occurrence, MSC Seaside was operating a short Bahamas roundtrip itinerary from Miami scheduled from February 2nd to February 6th. The voyage was completed as planned, arriving back in Miami the following day.
For more MSC Seaside incidents and accidents, see the ship's CruiseMinus page.