Pullmantur Zenith accidents and incidents

25 June 2013Fire Accident

On June 25, 2013, at ~3:50 am, the ship reported an engine room fire accident while operating in the Mediterranean Sea, en-route from Ravenna to Venice. The vessel was carrying a total of 1672 passengers.

The engine room's damages were substantial and resulted in power loss. The ship also lost propulsion and to stop drifting anchored approx 17 ml / 30 km off Venice Italy. Then 4 tugboats towed it to Venice for repairs. A week later the ship went to St Marco shipyard (Trieste Italy) for dry-dock repairs.

18 August 2009Fire Accident

On August 18, 2009, while moored at Frihamnen (Stockholm, Sweden), the ship suffered a major fire accident. All passengers were evacuated and 2 male crew were taken by an ambulance to hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.

Reportedly, some passengers jumped overboard from the ship. The fire was caused by welding works in the lower deck's stern section. The ship left port on August 19, at 5:30 am. Apart from the billowing smoke, the liner reported no significant damages. The two welders (both injured crew) tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire themselves.

02 May 2009Ship Grounding

On May 2, 2009, while approaching Port Copenhagen (Denmark), in the Oresund Strait the ship ran aground after navigating too close to a wind farm. Reportedly, the Captain was fined for the incident.

For the whole summer, the ship operated a 7-day "Baltic Capitals" cruise itinerary leaving roundtrip from homeports Copenhagen and Helsinki (Finland) to Poland (Gdynia), Russia (St Petersburg), Sweden (Stockholm) and Estonia (Tallinn). The next scheduled departure from Copenhagen was delayed by nearly 1 day.

Note: On April 3, 2023, CruiseMapper received an email from Ingo Josten.

"There might be an error about the reported accident on May 2nd, 2009. At that time the ship ZENITH (IMO: 8918136) was dry-docked in Hamburg (from 27.04. - 07.05.). From there she traveled to Copenhagen."

27 July 2008Ship Collision / Allision

On July 27, 2008, while manoeuvring for docking, the ship collided with the berthed MS Aegean Pearl (originally built for NCL Norwegian Cruise Line as MS Southward). The collision happened in port Piraeus (Athens, Greece), causing hull damages to both vessels but no injuries.

The Zenith ship was carrying a total of 1819 passengers plus 619 crew. The Aegean Pearl ship was carrying a total of 504 passengers plus 349 crew. It left from Venice Italy, with ports of call in Croatia and Greece (Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini).

The operated by Louis Cruises (now Celestyal Cruises) MS Aegean Pearl was scheduled to leave port on July 28 for an Athens roundtrip Greek Isles cruise to Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Crete, Santorini. The hull was damaged starboard (at deck level), including some lifeboats. The vessel was cleared to leave port towards Syros Island, where repairs were made at Neorion Shipyard.

Note: In 2013, Aegean Pearl was scrapped in Alang India.

April 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Celebrity Cruises) In April 2007, CDC reported on itinerary April 2 to 13, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 89 passengers (out of 1363, or 6,5%) and 11 crew (out of 613, or 1,8%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins.

The ship was on an 11-day Caribbean cruise from homeport Tampa Florida.

April 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In April 2007, CDC reported on itinerary April 2-13, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 89 passengers (out of 1363, or 6,5%) and 11 crew (out of 613, or 1,8%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (stomach cramps, predominantly vomiting and diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins.

The ship was on 11-day Eastern Caribbean cruise roundtrip from homeport Tampa Florida.

March 2005Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Celebrity Cruises) In March 2005, CDC reported on itinerary February 27 to March 13, an epidemic Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 138 passengers (out of 1308, or 10,6%) and 17 crew (out of 656, or 2,6%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins.

The ship was on a 14-day Caribbean cruise from homeport Jacksonville Florida.

21 January 2005Structural and Technical Issues

(Celebrity Cruises) On January 21, 2005, while the ship was docked in call port Basseterre (St Kitts Island) during a routine crew muster drill one of the lifeboat's wenches malfunctioned, leaving the boat dangling in the air. No injuries were reported.

As a result of the incident, the ship left port ~6 hours late and the scheduled itinerary was changed (call port St Georges (Grenada) was skipped. As compensation, passengers received US$100 in onboard credit per cabin.

April 2004Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Celebrity Cruises) In April 2004, CDC reported on itinerary March 28 to April 11, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 59 passengers (out of 1338, or 4,1%) and 7 crew (out of 668, or 1,1%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (fever, diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins.

The ship was on a 14-day Caribbean cruise from homeport Jacksonville Florida.