Iona accidents and incidents

27 March 2024Structural and Technical Issues

On March 27, 2024, P&O Cruises canceled two MS Iona cruises originally scheduled to depart in October 2025. The cancellations were due to rescheduling a necessary drydocking for a refit.

Both canceled voyages were roundtrips from Southampton (England UK), with departures on Oct 4th (14-day Canary Islands) and Oct 18th (7-day Northern Europe).

The next tables show the canceled voyages' itineraries.

14-day "Spain, Portugal & Canary Islands" itinerary

7-day "Northern European City Escape" itinerary

Affected bookings received full refunds (via the original form of payment) plus GBP 100 per person in OBC/onboard credit provided automatically with rebooking. The OBC was limited to the first two passengers in the same stateroom, and redeemable before June 2024.

21 October 2023Fire Accident

On October 21, 2023, while berthed in Port Southampton (England UK), the ship suffered an indoor fire. P&O Cruises UK stated that the fire resulted from the explosion of the lithium battery on a mobility scooter. The fire originated in the Atrium at ~5 PM SBT (~4 PM UTC) and was promptly extinguished by the onboard fire detection system.

Footage from the Atrium area showed flames on a balcony, followed by fire alarms and the evacuation of passengers from the Atrium's ground floor (deck 6).

The ship continued the voyage, arriving in Hamburg (Germany) slightly behind schedule.

The accident occurred at the beginning of the 7-day "Northern European City Escape Cruise" (itinerary Oct 21-28, roundtrip from Southampton) with call ports in Germany (Hamburg/Oct 23), Holland (Rotterdam/Oct 25) and Belgium (Zeebrugge-Bruges/Oct 27).

22 May 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

On May 22, 2022, a male passenger was medevaced from the liner navigating in the Baltic Sea, en route from England to Norway (Southampton to Stavanger).

For the operation, HM Coastguard Humber dispatched from Humberside Airport a rescue helicopter team (a Sikorsky S-92 aircraft operated by Bristow Helicopters on behalf of the Coastguard) to rendezvous with the cruise ship.

According to an ABP Humber Coastguard spokeswoman, the man needed to be airlifted and transported back to England "due to a medical issue" (unspecified).

The incident occurred at the beginning of a 7-day "Norwegian Fjords Cruise" (itinerary May-21-28, roundtrip from Southampton) calling exclusively ports in Norway - Stavanger (May 23), Olden, Hellesylt, Geiranger, and Haugesund.

March 2021Other Incidents

In early-March 2021, P&O UK cancelled a total of 22 departures part of MS Iona's inaugural season. The latest cancellations were all roundtrips from Southampton to Norway. The cancelled voyages (themed "Norwegian Fjords") were originally scheduled for the period April 24 through September 18, 2021 (first-last departure dates).

The new ship's Maiden Voyage was once again rescheduled - from April 24 (7-day Norwegian Fjords) to September 25 (14-day "Spain And Portugal").

18 June 2020Structural and Technical Issues

On June 18, 2020, MS Iona for the first time was fueled with LNG (bunkered) while berthed in Port Bremerhaven, Germany (at Columbus Quay operated by Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven GmbH). The bunkering operation was conducted by Nauticor GmbH und Co KG (Hamburg-based LNG supplier) which is a subsidiary of Gasum Oy (Espoo Finland-based, state-owned gas company).

The ship-to-ship bunkering was conducted by the Gasum-owned vessel Kairos (IMO 9819882, 2019-built, Cyprus-flagged bunkering LNG tanker ship).

June 2020Other Incidents

In early-June 2020, P&O Cruises canceled 7 of the Iona liner's inaugural itineraries, all roundtrips from Southampton (England). The canceled voyages were themed "Norwegian Fjords" (7-day, departures Aug 1, Aug 8, Aug 29, Sept 5, Sept 12, Sept 19) and "Canary Islands" (14-day, departure Oct 10).

In late-November were cancelled more departures (through April 2021) and the ship's maiden voyage was rescheduled for April 24 (7-day roundtrip Southampton to Norwegian Fjords). The company's decision was based on prolonged travel restrictions in Europe and international travel uncertainties.

Eventually, due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, P&O UK suspended passenger shipping operations fleetwide by canceling all voyages departing between March 14, 2020, and late-April 2021.

28 May 2020Structural and Technical Issues

On May 28, 2020, P&O Cruises announced that before the delivery from Meyer Werft (shipbuilder), the cruise ship will be drydocked at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam (Holland) for hull and propulsion inspections. At the time (May 28), MS Iona was berthed in Bremerhaven Germany (Columbus Pier Kreuzfahrtterminal) and awaiting deliveries of equipment and provisions.

The repositioning voyage to Rotterdam also doubled as a "sea trial" - for monitoring the vessel's machinery performance and conducting various nautical and technical tests. Iona effectively started North Sea trials on May 29, leaving from Bremerhaven and cruising northbound towards Norway. The drydock started on June 2.

Iona became Meyer Werft's 50th cruise vessel, which completion, unfortunately, was delayed due to shipbuilding yard's closure caused by the 2020's Coronavirus pandemic. The ship's official delivery date is yet to be announced. The inaugural cruise is planned to depart on August 1.

21 March 2020Structural and Technical Issues

On March 21, 2020, the shipbuilder Meyer Werft announced the suspension of works on the P&O Iona vessel. The unfinished ship remained docked in Bremerhaven (Germany). The newbuild was moved from the Papenburg Shipyard (on Ems River) to Bremerhaven (North Sea) for final outfitting and sea trials. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, works on the vessel's interior were suspended and sea trials postponed.