No injuries, minor damage after cruise ships bump in Vancouver harbour
Ships came into contact as one attempted to berth
Two cruise ships have sustained "minor damage" after they came into contact on Saturday morning near Vancouver's Canada Place.
The Port of Vancouver said in a written statement that at around 6:30 a.m. the Oosterdam was berthing when they came into contact with the Nieuw Amsterdam, which was at berth.
There were no injuries, and no pollution as a result of the incident, and cruise operations are continuing normally.
In a written statement, Erik Elvejord with the Holland American cruise line said that the incident happened closer to 6:50 a.m.
"Disembarkation on both ships proceeded as usual. Damage to Oosterdam is minimal. Six [...] stateroom verandahs on Nieuw Amsterdam require repairs which are underway," he wrote, adding that guests booked in those rooms will be given other accommodation.
Elvejord said that all required repairs are above the ships' waterlines, and that the seaworthiness of the ships is not affected.
The Nieuw Amsterdam is scheduled to depart today on a seven-day roundtrip to Alaska. The Oosterdam is scheduled to sail overnight to Seattle.
Elvejord said he does not anticipate that either itinerary will be affected.
Angela Hagen was packing up after a six-day cruise from San Diego on the Nieuw Amsterdam when she heard "lots of crunching and breaking of things."
At first, she thought the ship had hit the docks.
"My sister went out on the balcony and said 'we hit the other ship!'" she said.
Hagen said she could see the railing was gone from the rooms next to hers. They were briefly asked to leave but were eventually able to return to retrieve their luggage.
Transport Canada will work with the Holland America cruise line to fully assess the damage.