Marella Explorer 2 accidents and incidents

11 February 2023Crew / Passenger Deaths

On February 11, 2023, while the ship was docked in Port Castries (St Lucia Island), a 76-year-old female passenger (British) drowned at Anse Cochon Beach (Anse-La-Raye town), approx 12 km (7,5 mi) to the south of downtown Castries.

Reportedly, the elderly woman (Audrey Coulthand) died ("perished from drowning") while on a shore excursion.

The incident occurred during the 7-day "Tropical Delights" itinerary (voyage Feb 5-12, roundtrip from homeport Bridgetown Barbados) with call ports in the Netherlands Antilles/"ABC islands" Bonaire (Kralendijk/Feb 7), Curacao (Willemstad/Feb 8) and Aruba (Oranjestad/Feb 9) and St Lucia (Castries/Feb 11, port stay 8 am - 6 pm).

19 January 2021Structural and Technical Issues

On January 19, 2021, while at anchorage in Tor Bay/Torbay (off Devon England's coast), the ship lost the starboard anchor due to severe weather conditions caused by Storm Christoph. For Cornwall and Devon, the UK's Met Office issued a yellow weather warning.

During the accident, Marella Explorer 2 was at anchorage together with 8 other cruise liners from the fleets of P&O UK, Cunard, Holland America.

A spokesperson for TUI Cruises commented that the main engines and the second anchor were used to secure the ship and that the lost anchor will be recovered later. No damages or injuries were reported.

13 December 2020Coast Guard Medevacs

On December 13, 2020, a male crew from the ship (anchored in Torbay, off Devon England's coast) was medevaced by one of the ship's own lifeboats. The man was transported to the seaside town Torquay from where was ambulanced to Torbay Hospital.

Reportedly, the crew suffered a heart attack while onboard. The medical evacuation was assisted by an RNLI lifeboat. The cruise liner was passenger-free and carrying only skeleton / maintenance crew.

22 June 2020Coast Guard Medevacs

In the night on June 22, 2020, a UK Coastguard helicopter medevaced a male crew from the cruise ship anchored in Sandown Bay (off Isle of Wight, Cowes England). The liner requested the medical evacuation shortly before 9:30 PM. The ship was passenger-free and carrying only skeleton / maintenance crew.

For the operation, HM Coastguard dispatched a SAR rescue helicopter from Lee-on-Solent (Gosport, Hampshire). The patient was flown to Solent Airport, from where ambulanced to Southampton's Princess Anne Hospital.

06 May 2020Other Incidents

On May 6, 2020, Marella Cruises announced changes to Marella Explorer 2's itinerary program for 2021 summer. The ship was scheduled to operate roundtrips from homeport Naples (Italy). The 7-day itineraries were themed:

• "Adriatic Splendours" - Split (Croatia), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Kotor (Montenegro), Corfu (Greece), Messina (Sicily, Italy)
• "Greek Getaway" - Souda-Chania (Crete, Greece), Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos Island (Greece), Piraeus-Athens (Greece)
• "Icons Of The Mediterranean" - Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France), Calvi (Corsica, France), Livorno (Italy), Civitavecchia-Rome (Italy)
• "Mediterranean Mysteries" - Catania (Sicily, Italy), Valletta (Malta), Piombino (Italy), Propriano (Corsica, France), Olbia (Sardinia, Italy)

However, due to the retirement of Marella Celebration (announced on April 29), Marella Explorer 2's planned itinerary program (Summer 2021) was replaced with the Celebration's itineraries (May through October 2021) - 7-day roundtrips from homeport Dubrovnik, Croatia.

April 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On March 25, Marella Explorer 2 docked in Port Bridgetown (Barbados) and reported 4 crew with flu-like symptoms, who later were tested positive for COVID-19. On March 26, many (not all, reportedly 200) passengers were disembarked and flown back to the UK. According to TUI's statement, none of the passengers has been tested Coronavirus-positive, but "a small number of guests" were refused permissions to fly as they were showing flu-like symptoms. These passengers remained on the ship and isolated in separate staterooms.

On March 30, 2020, in the afternoon the ship anchored off Puerto Progreso (Yucatan Mexico). Local media news reported that the vessel was carrying a total of 19 passengers and 4 crew with flu-like symptoms. On humanitarian grounds, the ship was allowed to dock (at SSA Mexico Cruise Terminal) and disembark most of its passengers and some crew, TUI Cruises (Marella's managing company) denied that the ship had any Coronavirus cases.

On March 31, 2020, a male passenger was medevaced (via a Mexican Navy vessel), transported to Progreso (Yucatan Mexico) and hospitalized in Merida. The man was in critical condition and on April 1 was announced that he has died in the hospital.

When the cruise liner was anchored off Puerto Progreso, the Mexican Government allowed the debarkation of a total of 46x British passengers, who were later flown back to the UK via charter flight. The debarkation was permitted after Marella Cruises arranged a charter flight to repatriate from England a total of 141x Mexican citizens stuck there by the UK-imposed flight restrictions (due to the Coronavirus pandemic). Reportedly, some of the disembarked British tourists were showing flu-like symptoms.

Both repatriations were coordinated by the Mexican and British governments. Both charter flights were paid by TUI AG (Marella Cruises' parent company / shipowner). Then the cruise liner did a Transatlantic crossing back to the UK (via Canary Islands). Reportedly, many of the staff-crew onboard were experiencing flu-like symptoms.

18 August 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 18, 2019, while navigating in the Adriatic Sea and en-route from Ancona to Venice, the liner suffered a total power loss. The incident resulted in a shipwide lack of electricity (which also affected the vessel's propulsion system) for ~1 hour. Arrival and berthing in Port Venice were delayed.

The accident occurred during 7-day Adriatic Splendours cruise (itinerary Aug 14-21) roundtrip from homeport Naples to Messina (Sicily Island), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Ancona, Venice, and Split (Croatia).

May 2019Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On May 14, 2019, the liner docked in Port Olbia (Sardinia Island, Italy) with a Norovirus (gastrointestinal illness) outbreak, with predominant symptoms vomiting and diarrhea. A TUI (shipowner) spokesperson announced that Marella is "working closely with their (TUI's) team to monitor the situation and had implemented additional health and safety procedures on top of already stringent protocols to prevent any further customers falling ill". The current itinerary was not affected and continued as planned. A spokesman for RCCL-Royal Caribbean (joint-venture shipowner / together with TUI) revealed that at the time (May 14) the number of affected passengers accounted for ~2% of all on the ship. Based on vessel's passenger capacity (1800 lower berths) this meant at least 40 people infected with Noro virus.

The incident occurred during the 7-day "Mediterranean Gems" cruise (itinerary May 8-15) roundtrip from homeport Naples and visiting Palamos (Spain), Toulon (France), Livorno (Italy), Civitavecchia (Italy) and Olbia (Sardinia).

Note: When the itinerary doesn’t include US cruise ports, the ship is not required to report to CDC, thus no official illness report would be issued.

December 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Celebrity Century) On December 20, 2007, when returned to Miami Florida from a 17-day itinerary, the ship reported a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) with infected 54 passengers (or 3,2%) and 9 crew (or 1,1%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (predominantly vomiting and diarrhea) and were quarantined to their cabins.

21 May 2007Coast Guard Medevacs

(Celebrity Century) On May 21, 2007, because of his size, an obese male passenger was medevaced from the ship via helicopter.

The man had a weight of 205 kg (450 pounds). He suffered gastric problems requiring hospitalization. The ship was anchored in Firth of Forth (North Sea) when contacted the Forth Coastguard. When attempts to offload the man into a boat failed, he was first airlifted (via RAF Sea King helicopter), then winched to the boat and transported to the hospital.

01 November 2006Crew / Passenger Deaths

(Celebrity Century, overboard) On November 1, 2006, a male passenger was reported missing and presumed fell overboard. The accident occurred during the 14-day Transatlantic repositioning crossing (cruise itinerary October 27 - November 13) from Europe to Florida USA (Barcelona to Miami).

On November 3, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship experienced stormy weather with high seas. A total of 3 passengers sustained injuries and had to be medevaced by the US Navy assault ship USS Wasp.