Over the weekend, the coastal town of Ravenna, Italy experienced a turbulent encounter with nature. Due to powerful gusts of wind, the ship Celebrity Infinity, being berthed at Porto Corsini, broke the bow mooring lines/ropes during the fierce storm.
The ship was carrying ~2100 passengers plus ~900 crew.
Breaking the bow moorings left the vessel connected only by its stern mooring ropes. In response, the Operations Room of the Harbor Master's Office acted swiftly, alerting and coordinating the involvement of several technical-nautical services, including port pilots and tugboats.
The operation involved the assistance of three tugboats to keep the cruise liner in a secure position. Skillful maneuvers were carried out on both the bow and stern to ensure the safety of all tourists and crew on board.
Thanks to the well-timed and coordinated efforts of the maritime authorities, potential harm to the ship and the dock was averted.
A similar incident took place in September 2022 when Viking OCEAN's ship Viking Sea encountered a comparable situation at the same port.
Despite the challenging circumstances, Celebrity Cruises' Infinity ship is currently on a 7-night voyage which began on July 22nd from Ravenna/Porto Corsini. The itinerary visits Dubrovnik Croatia, Nafplio Greece, Rhodes Island Greece, Kusadasi-Ephesus Turkey, Santorini Island Greece, and ends in Piraeus-Athens Greece, on July 29th.
For more Celebrity Infinity incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.