Events by Fred Olsen

Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com

Events at Sea by Fred Olsen Cruises

The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard. The list is by no means comprehensive. For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data. Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate. With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen viewed separately by ship.

Date	Ship	2012	Incident
May 15	Boudicca	Greenock Telegraph reports 30 passengers stricken by a vomiting bug on cruise the ship remain in isolation. More than 1,000 people are on board the liner, including 828 holidaymakers, which is due to dock in Funchal in Madeira today. The ship left Greenock on 7 May on a 13-night cruise to the Canary Islands. The Daily Mail sunsequently reported 170 passengers (about 20%) had reported ill.	Illness
March 7	Balmoral	Globo.com reports more than 50 passengers and crew were ill with diarrhea and flu symptoms (likely norovirus) when the ship docked in Santos, Brazil.	Illness
March 4	Balmoral	I Love Chile reports all three ships have canceled port calls to Puerto Chacabuco, Chile (Patagonia region) because of protests by the Aysen "Tu Problema Es Mi Problema" Civil Movement.	Port call canceled
Date	Ship	2011	Incident
November 17	Balmoral	From a passenger: We have just returned from cruise L1120, where we had a 6 hour delay in sailing from Hamburg after repairs were required to the oil pump in the main engine. This later turned into a requirement for a new bearing, which was delivered & installed. As a result of the delay, our call into Amsterdam was cancelled, and we headed straight to the next port (Antwerp in Belgium) arriving late afternoon thereby extending the call there from the planned half day to an overnight and half day.	Engione repairs - missed port
September 28	Balmoral	The Daily Echo reports the ship was expected to depart this afternoon after the ship was delayed due to a technical fault with a lifeboat. The Southampton-based ship was inspected by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency yesterday who found the fault along with inconsistent record keeping of crew hours of rest, and subsequently detained the vessel. According to the latest shipping movements the Fred Olsen cruise ship was due to set sail for Lisbon this afternoon.	Ship detained
September 14	Balmoral	The Mirror reports passengers disembarking from cruise ship Balmoral in Southampton yesterday were questioned by police over the disappearance of an elderly man who is believed to have committed suicide by going overboard in the North Sea. Some were delayed by up to three hours at the end of their eight-day cruise to the Norwegian fjords. The man, who is believed to have been travelling alone, was last seen at dinner on Sunday, shortly after the 44,000-ton ship left Stavanger. He was reported missing the following morning when a stewardess found a note in his cabin. The ship was by then in the North Sea, to the east of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The man has not yet been named by police, but he was described by fellow passengers as a "pleasant elderly British gentleman." Passengers were shown pictures of him and were asked to inform the police if they thought they knew what had happened to him. A spokesperson for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said the company was cooperating fully with Coast guard and police.	Pax missing
dd/mm/yy	Ship	2010	Incident
12.10.10	Balmoral	BBC reports a 79-year-old British man was reported missing about 45 miles (72km) south of The Lizard in Cornwall. An air and sea search involving British and French coastguards and warships was called off on Monday evening. Officers from Kent Police boarded the ship when she berthed at Dover. The man was, who has not been named, was on a three-week cruise in the Adriatic.	Passenger missing
23.8.10	Black Watch	The Guernsey Press reports that due to forecast weather conditions and rough seas, the three ships all decided to move on after being in Guernsey waters for just a few hours. The ships arrived early in the morning but after discussions with the harbour authorities the Saga Ruby and Black Watch decided to leave straight away. ‘The Crown Princess wanted to wait and see if the weather was going to clear up and to speak to its head office. But at 8.07am it decided to cancel.	Skipped port call
12.8.10	Black Watch	From a passenger: The ship was progressing at slow speed along the fjord tracks about 10Nm from Narsarsuaq (Greenland) and encountering significant ice flows. Shortly after 11pm local time the ship’s port bow collided with an iceberg resulting in a significant impact. Sleeping passengers were woken by the impact and those around the ship moved to the open decks. There were no reported injuries. The ship’s Master ordered that an inspection be carried out and crew members carried out an overdeck inspection of the bow area. The ship continued safely to Narsarsuaq, its next scheduled port of call. After a more complete inspection in port the following day where the damage was found to be superficial the ship continued with its cruise itinerary although abandoned attempts to reach its next scheduled destination of Nanortalik or to sail through the fjords around Cape Farewell as planned.	Collision with iceberg
19.4.10	Boudicca	Cruises.co.uk reports the ship's current cruise has been cut short after a yet another case of Norovirus. According to Fred Olsen Cruises the current cruise will be shortened by two days. The ship is on a 23 night cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean and sailed from Liverpool on 6th April. It will now arrive back on 27th April, calling at Izmir, Santorini, Ibiza and Almeria en route to Liverpool. As a gesture of good will, Fred. Olsen has given all passengers a £100 credit to their cabin accounts owing to the situation’s impact on the cruise as a whole. The Daily Mail reports 600 passengers (70% of those onboard) reported coming down with the gastrointestinal illness. NOTE: I have received the following message from Fred Olsen Cruises - It is correct that on the current cruise, a number of passengers did succumb to a norovirus-type illness, a situation which was made worse by two bouts of bad weather causing sea-sickness as well. The percentage of passengers affected throughout the entire cruise was 38%, and at the present time there are only two people who have been requested to remain in their cabins for two days.According to the Daily Mail, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines admitted ... 305 have been affected, but those travelling on the vessel claim as many as 650 of the 900 people on board have been affected by the norovirus.	Illness
29.3.10	Black Watch	The Southern Daily Echo reports two Spanish men have today admitted charges of attempting to smuggle cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.4m through Southampton docks. They were arrested with 30 kilogrammes of the class A drug as they disembarked the ship at berth 106 on Saturday morning (March 27). Both pleaded guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court this morning with being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion or attempted evasion of the prohibition on importation imposed by section 3(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. They will next appear on April 29 at Southampton Crown Court. UPDATE: The passengers were subsequently sentenced to 12 years in jail for possession of almost £8 million in cocaine	Drug bust
11.3.10	Boudicca	Euro Weekly News reports three crew-members off the ship which stopped off in Malaga Port last week had to be rushed to Carlos Haya Hospital after suffering severe burns from a water leak in the ship’s boiler-room. The ship left Southampton on March 3. Malaga was its first stop and it was due to leave at 6pm after the passengers had spent the day in the city. However, at approximately 5pm, a small explosion caused boiling water to leak from a boiler and three Filipino men aged between 30 and 33 who were working on it at the time were burned. The captain called the emergency services and a private company sent a mobile ICU with a doctor and two ambulances. The youngest of the three men is in critical condition with second degree burns to 30 per cent of his body. The ship left Malaga on its way to Cartagena just after 6pm.	Severe injury of crew members
10.3.10	Boudicca	BBC reports 13 passengers are currently keeping to their rooms after becoming ill on a Mediterranean cruise. Up to 30 people at any time have experienced symptoms on the three-week trip. The situation has been worsened by "very stormy" conditions in the eastern Mediterranean, causing many people to suffer from sea-sickness. One passenger said the passengers are going down like flies. The ship should arrive in Southampton on 22 March and is due to set off on another cruise from Liverpool the next day.	Illness
23.2.10	Black Watch	Cruise Business Review reports a woman from the UK has been awarded a £70,000 settlement after her husband died from Legionnaire’s Disease, contracted on board a Fred Olsen cruise. She and her husband were on the ship in July 2007, when it was announced there had been an outbreak of Legionnaire's on the ship. As a result, a number of passengers were affected by the illness, the cruise ended early and the couple returned home on 30th July. The 77 year old man died a couple of days later. An inquest ruled the cruise line exposed the man to Legionnaire’s Disease and found that the two doctors he saw (off ship) failed to prescribe adequate medication, respond to his worsening condition or arrange for his admission to hospital.	Lawsuit settled
8.2.10	Boudicca	A poster at Cruise Critic (message #20) reports, "As of Friday 5th Feb Fred Olsen says about eighty people infected on the present cruise. The ship will again be "deep cleansed" on its return. FO will write to all next group passengers setting out the position and presumably the options. My partner and I have strong recommendations from our GPs not to risk it and I am cancelling and requesting refunds".	Illness
3.2.10	Boudicca	The Antigua Sun reports a British couple was attacked and robbed yesterday while on an outing in the Villa area. It is reported that the couple arrived in Antigua earlier yesterday, journeyed to the Villa area, and while walking along Bay Street, they were approached by three young men, who suddenly appeared from out of some nearby bushes. The youths were armed with a piece of stick. The couple was then robbed of a digital camera. During the incident, the female visitor received a blow to her head with the stick while the man sustained an injury to his hand, after being struck by the piece of stick. They were taken to the Mount St. John Medical Centre (MSJMC) where they were treated and discharged.	Robbery ashore
22.1.10	Boudicca	The Portsmouth News reports 150 passengers became ill from norovirus on the Canary Island cruise beginning January 4 and ending January 18.	Illness
14.1.10	Balmoral	I have received an email from a passenger on the current world cruise saying that 80 people have been confined to their cabin because of norovirus. More information will be posted as it becomes available. UPDATE February 3: The CDC reports 293 of 1163 passengers (25.19%) and 17 of 519 crew (3.28%) reported ill on the cruise running 5 January to 4 February (time in US waters on world cruise).	Illness
7.1.10	Black Watch	The BVI Beacon reports a second cruise passenger died this month while swimming off Tortola (see January 5 below). The latest incident involved an 86 year old man swimming at Nanny Cay Beach who was pulled from the water at 2:30 PM and transported to Peebles Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 PM, and an autopsy is pending.	Death ashore
5.1.10	Balmoral	Kent Online reports the ship is undergoing a thorough clean and disinfection at Dover today after more than 350 passengers and crew were taken ill during a Christmas and New Year cruise. The ship leaves tonight on a 106-night world cruise.	Illness
dd/mm/yy	Ship	2009	Incident
22.12.09	Boudicca	BBC reports 50 passengers have reported ill with norovirus on a four day mini cruise from Portsmouth to Zeebrugge and Amsterdam that departed December 18th. This is the second cruise in a row with an illness outbreak.	Illness
18.12.09	Boudicca	The Portsmouth News reports up to 300 passengers are believed to have been struck by norovirus, which causes sickness and diarrhea. The sick passengers were kept on board while they recovered. A passenger said, 'It was a very serious outbreak of the novovirus bug, which broke out about four or five days into the cruise after we had left Portsmouth. Some people, many of them quite elderly, have been very sick." The ship left Portsmouth on Sunday 6 December on a 12 day cruise, calling at Madeira, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lisbon. The BBC reports the number ill was 180 passengers and crew.	Illness
19.11.09	Black Watch	The BBC reports a 23 year old man and 20 year old woman from Surrey were detained by UK Border Agency officers as the man disembarked at Southampton docks. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said 1.5kg (3.3lb) of cocaine with an estimated street value of £70,000 was seized from a male passenger.	Drug bust
25.10.09	Balmoral	Nova News reports: After weeks of planning and getting ready, the ship sailed by Shelburne (Nova Scotia) this morning to the disappointment of many. The ship and its 1,300 passengers were scheduled to spend the day in Shelburne, but the visit was cancelled Sunday morning as heavy rains and high winds hit the area.	Skipped port call
21.10.09	Black Watch	A passenger writes: I was a passenger on board the Black Watch on 21.10.09. The pilot had been taken on board to guide the ship into La Coruna Harbour (Spain) at around 11.00 am. Rough winds were battering the local coastline but the weather was otherwise fine and the approach into La Caruna was otherwise unremarkable. Apparently, due to the pilot with the captain's permission misreading red and green marker bouys, and taking the wrong line into the harbour, the ship was steered into dangerous waters on its approach and in a very short space of time, ie 15 minutes, was unbalanced and listed severely resulting in passengers flying across the reception rooms on chairs, cabins and balcony doors/windows being damaged and the ship taking on water.	Severe list
18.10.09	Boudicca	The Daily Mail reports sixteen passengers on a Mediterranean cruise have been confined to their cabins after their ship was hit by the norovirus sickness bug. They were isolated after the ship left Venice yesterday with 850 passengers on board. The outbreak appeared to start last week when the ship’s doctor confined himself to his own quarters, suspecting he had the highly contagious bug which causes sickness and diarrhoea. Update: Travel Weekly reports 57 passengers out of the 1,140 onboard Boudicca have so far been affected by gastroenteritis-like symptoms. Twenty-seven passengers remain in isolation, including six who are under observation. The ship, which is on a 21-night cruise of the Adriatic, departed Portsmouth on October 5 and is due to end in Portsmouth October 26.	Norovirus
9.9.09	Balmoral	STV reports seventy-two passengers have been struck down by an outbreak of norovirus. The Balmoral is currently anchored off Portree, Skye – with severe gales preventing it from berthing in the harbour. The liner departed Invergordon on Monday night with a reported 18 cases of the bug among its 1,280 passengers and 516 crew. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have confirmed that those affected with the virus have been confined to their cabins. The Press and Journal puts the number of ill passengers at 78; other sources indicate 2 crew members have reported ill. UPDATE September 14: TTGLive reports the current cruise arrived in Dover a day early so the ship could undergo deep cleaning in advance of the next cruise - a 12 day cruise of the Baltic. The number of passengers ill is reported to have been about 100.	Norovirus
4.3.09	Balmoral	Metro.co.uk reports the ship made emergency calls after encountering "suspicious" activity from two small craft in notorious waters off Somalia. Military sources involved in monitoring the protected zone of the Gulf of Aden said the incident yesterday was "a false alarm". But a spokeswoman for Fred Olsen said: "Balmoral encountered suspicious activity by two small craft, closing at high speed. The ship's master requested passengers to assemble in 'safe havens' as part of a pre-planned safety procedure. Aggressive manoeuvring was implemented and contact was made with the EU Coalition Task Force." The ship is expected to arrive in Salalah tomorrow on schedule.	Pirate threat
6.2.09	Balmoral	The Daily Express and BBC reports more than 230 people (about 13%) on board an 18-day cruise of the Canary Islands and west Africa have been taken ill after an outbreak of norovirus on their ship. About 50 passengers remain confined to their cabins by the bug. The cruise operator said the liner was refused entry the Cape Verde Islands following the outbreak. The ship was now heading for the Canary Islands.	Illness
20.1.09	Balmoral	BBC reports that two passengers have been taken to hospital with broken bones after the ship was hit by 50ft waves and winds of 60 mph in the Bay of Biscay. The ship docked in the Spanish port of La Coruna after setting sail from Dover January 17; it is due back in Dover on 27 January.	Injuries in high seas
dd/mm/yy	Ship	2008	Incident
21.11.08	Boudicca	Cruising Talk reports the ship sustained minor damage to her bow whilst in Barbados. The port authorities were shifting her to another berth to allow for Ventura and due to high winds Boudicca caught another cross berth. The damage caused a 7ft dent which needed to be repaired before leaving for Castries. She was due to depart on the 21st but has delayed that til the 22nd to allow for repairs to be made. See picture here.	Collision with pier -- Delayed departure
29.10.08	Black Watch	The Daily Telegraph reports that two passengers were taken to hospital after they were thrown into the sea when the ship broke free of its moorings while docked in Bilbao, northern Spain. The elderly passengers and a crew member were crossing the gangplank when ropes snapped and the ship swung away from the quayside. All three were rescued from the water and taken to a local hospital. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines confirmed that an incident had taken place on Wednesday afternoon at around 2pm and said two passengers were being treated in a local hospital. "The Black Watch was docked in Bilbao when it was hit by high winds which caused the ship to pull away from the pier and the gangplank became detached," said Mike Rodwell managing director of the Ipswich-based company. The ship sustained no damage in the incident and left port shortly after the scheduled time of 6pm bound for the port of Honfleur in Normandy, France.	Gangplank collapses
16.10.08	Balmoral	An unknown number of noro type illness was reported current cruise; the next cruise (BL026) had delayed embarkation til 1800 to accommodate increased cleaning of the vessle.	Illness
16.10.08	Boudicca	The company announced that a 3 day mini cruise this weekend is cancelled due to rudder damage on the current cruise. The ship's departure for the Caribbean on Oct 21 is not affected.	Cancellation
16.9.08	Balmoral	The company has announced that the cruise ending/beginning September 18 will arrive/leave from Southampton instead of Dover. The reason for the change is "technical concerns experienced with the vessel's propulsion system."	Itinerary change
28.1.08	Balmoral	The ship's inaugural sailing scheduled for January 30 has been canaceled. After arriving in Dover four days later than panned, a number of unforseen technical isues emerged and led to the cancelation. The Caribbean cruise scheduled for February 13 remains on schedule.	Canceled Sailing
dd/mm/yy	Ship	2007	Incident
18.9.07	Black Prince	A 29-night round trip voyage from Liverpool was cut short following damage to the ship's propeller. Two subsequent cruises have also been cancelled to allow for repairs. The ship was on its homeward leg while in the Corinth Canal when it sustained the damage; the decision to end the cruise was made after divers in Algeciras found more extensive damage than had originally been assessed. The ship will proceed to drydock for repairs.	Damaged Propeller -- Cruise Cancelled
28.7.07	Black Watch	The ship, with 700 passengers, was quarantined at Stockholm after an outbreak of Legionnaires disease onboard. Seven elderly passengers were taken to hospital while the remaining passengers were not allowed to go ashore. The ship was disinfected and then left on its return voyage to the UK, returning to Dover two days earlier than originally scheduled. Tests onboard the ship have not yet located the source of the illness; there is suspicion that the source may have been onshore.	Illness -- Legionnaires
dd/mm/yy	Ship	2006 and earlier	Incident
7.7.06	Black Prince	The ship was deep-cleaned after the illness outbreak on the previous cruise. This caused a delayed departure and shortened the cruise to Copenhagen and St. Petersburg from 12 days to 10 days. As the cruise line materially changed the itinerary, passengers could cancel without penalty -- approximately 20 percent of passengers booked on the cruise departing today cancelled out.	Itinerary change
4.7.06	Black Prince	About 100 passengers have been affected by a vomiting virus similar to the one that hit the vessel earlier in June. On that trip, 136 passengers were confirmed to have been affected by norovirus. A hand full of passengers were ill on the cruise that followed and then a large outbreak on the current cruise which left Leith on June 22 and returned from its 13 day excursion of Iceland and Greenland on July 5. The ship will be thoroughly disinfected before the next cruise (including replacement of carpets and some furnishings).	Illness
9.6.06	Black Prince	126 of 412 (30%) passengers contracted gastronintenstinal intestinal illness during the current cruise (84 (20.38%) were reportedly quarantined). The ship left Leith, Edinburgh on a seven day cruise to the Norwegian fjords and is due back in port on Saturday. It will depart for its next cruise one day late in order to fully sanitize the ship.	Illness
27.4.04	Black Prince	Enroute to her first journey after engine repairs, the ship broke down just off Southampton docks. 412 passengers waiting to take a mini-cruise to Ireland and the Channel Islands had to wait until evening for the ship's arrival, which had been left without power.	Engine failure
29.3.04	Black Prince	One of the ship's two main engines broke down on its transatlantic crossing. The March 11th cruise ended on March 29, and the following cruise is also cancelled. The ship will re-enter sevrvice April 27.	Engine Breakdown / Cancellation
5.12.02	Black Watch	Mechanical trouble -- problem with one of the engines and a propeller -- and delayed 2 days in arrival into the port at Southampton. The next cruise was delayed.	Engine problems
3.12.02	Black Watch	Mechanical problems with one of the engines and a propeller forced the ship to slow down, causing it to arrive at Southampton two days late. The following cruise is delayed.	Engine problems
4.3.02	Black Prince	Ran aground on a sand bank while leaving Casilda, Cuba. After several unsuccessful attempts to free ship, passengers evacuated and bused to Havana for flights home.	Grounded
14.1.98	Black Prince	Ran into a freak wave that smached three windows on the bvridge and caused electrical equipment to fail. The ship returned to Dover for repairs and then resumed its cruise.	Freak wave

NOTES:

Black Prince left fleet in 2009 -- in November 2009 it was sold to the Venezuelan company Servicios Acuaticos de Venezuela Saveca C.A. (known as Saveca).