NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line's ship Norwegian Escape ran aground on a sandbar on Monday, March 14, just off Puerto Plata Harbor (Dominicana).
The accident happened as the liner with a total of 3223 passengers and 1618 crew departed the port city and got stuck at Taino Bay.
A number of tugboats were called to assist the vessel.
NCL said in a statement that during the afternoon on March 14, 2022, the ship had made contact with the channel bed upon departing Puerto Plata.
"All guests and crew are safe, and there are no reports of damages to the ship. Operations on board have not been impacted, and all services and activities continue as scheduled. We are currently working on a solution to free the ship and ready her for safe departure."
Norwegian Escape left out of Port Canaveral/Orlando (Florida USA) on a 7-night Caribbean roundtrip and Puerto Plata was the first call port on the itinerary. The voyage also includes stops in St Thomas Island USVI/Charlotte Amalie (Mar 15), Tortola Island BVI/Road Town (Mar 16), and Bahamas/Great Stirrup Cay (Mar 18), prior to returning to homeport on March 19.
At ~12:45 am Dominicana time (~16:45 UTC), Norwegian Escape managed to break free and is currently (AIS tracking) en route to Saint Thomas.
For more Norwegian Escape incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.