Thomson Spirit accidents and incidents

18 October 2016Ship Grounding

On October 18, 2016, the ship ran aground on Arade River (Portimao, southern Portugal). The vessel blocked the river for ~1,5 hours, as due to security reasons the Captain aborted the berthing manoeuvres.

The ship was scheduled to dock in call port Portimao at 8 am. It entered the river at low tide and tried to manoeuvre in front of the quay. The liner finally berthed at high tide (~9:20 am) assisted by a tugboat.

The grounding was caused by accumulated silt in the channel. Portimao guarantees safe passage for vessels with max LOA length 215 m / 705 ft and max draft 8 m / 26 ft. The Thomson ship's length is 214 m long and its draft is 7,5 m.

May 2009Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On July 23, 2009, UK new media reported a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) affecting "hundreds" of passengers suffering the Norovirus symptoms (headache, stomach cramps, predominantly vomiting and diarrhoea). Some of the sick were quarantined to their cabins.

The outbreak happened on a voyage in early May. Reportedly, the ship's hygiene standards were very low, with flies flying over the buffet's food and dirty public restrooms.

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.

07 August 2007Ship Collision / Allision

(MS Thomson Spirit) In the afternoon  on August 7, 2007, upon berthing in call port Greanger Norway, the Thomson ship collided with the cruise ship Ocean Majesty (owned by Majestic International Cruises). Reported were superstructure damages (lifeboats and davits) on the Ocean Majesty ship, which was out of service for 3 days for repairs.