Daily Sitka Sentinel

Ship Hits Sitka Dock; Capacity Cut 50 Percent

The Norwegian Bliss and the Radiance of the Seas are tied to the Sitka Sound Cruise Ship dock Monday. One of the dock's mooring dolphins was damaged Monday. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas struck a Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal mooring dolphin Monday morning as it was preparing to dock, terminal manager Chris McGraw said today.

The damage will limit the dock to use by only one, instead of two, ships until repairs are made, McGraw said.

A dolphin is a combination of steel pilings driven into the ocean floor and used for mooring a ship at a dock. The one at the cruise dock has four pilings.

There was no apparent damage to the 961-foot ship and no reported injuries in the mishap.

But the accident will render the inside berth unusable, which will limit the dock to just one ship until repairs are completed. 

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment is investigating the accident, McGraw said. He has hired Turnagain Marine Construction of Juneau to make the repairs, which is estimated to take three weeks.

McGraw said he was watching the ship, with 1,500 passengers aboard, as it turned around to back into its berth around 8 a.m. when it struck one of the inside dolphins. It made a loud banging noise but otherwise the ship docked with no problems, he said.

“The dolphin is unusable currently,” McGraw said. “We can’t accommodate any ships on the inside berth until it’s repaired.”

McGraw has notified Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska in Ketchikan, and is waiting to hear back on how the reduction in docking space will affect the schedule of Sitka stops. He is also communicating with Royal Caribbean International, the owner of the vessel, about damages.

The outside berth can be used without a problem, but on two-ship days other plans will be needed to bring passengers ashore from the second vessel. McGraw said. There are four such days in the next three weeks, with the first on Tuesday, May 17.

For years, large ships anchored offshore from downtown Sitka and lightered passengers ashore on small boats. McGraw said he expects this will be the most likely course the cruise lines will take for the second vessels that cannot use the cruise terminal for the next three weeks.

Chamber of Commerce/Visit Sitka executive director Rachel Roy said Visit Sitka will keep on top of the schedule and update the calendar as soon as she is notified of any changes.

Information will be posted at visitsitka.org under “partner services” at the bottom of the page. She expressed hope that repairs can be done in less than thee weeks.

“We have good people that can make repairs and a community that makes it happen,” Roy said.