Injuries overwhelm medics after cruise ship loses propulsion in Bay of Biscay storm
When the Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion in storm-force seas, more than 100 mostly elderly passengers were injured, with one fatality.
Cruises are optimised for comfort, with passengers insulated from some of the harsh realities of seafaring life. At times, cruise passengers are reminded that, despite their resemblance to luxury hotels, these vessels continue to operate as ships at sea. On 4 November 2023, forecasts had consistently warned of 13m wave heights and storm-force winds yet still, the decision was made for cruise vessel Spirit of Discovery to run the Bay of Biscay with a passenger contingent of 943 aboard – with an average age of 79 years.
What happened
On 1 November, the decision was taken for Spirit of Discovery to forego a call at Las Palmas Gran Canaria, on account of the growing severe weather. The vessel turned around Puerto del Rosario, Fuerteventura, and began its return voyage to the UK via the port of A Coruña.
At 10am on 3 November, the Captain was informed that it would not be possible to call at A Coruña to take shelter. The port would be closed on 4 November, as the forecast 6m - 9m swells exceeded the port’s limit for pilot transfers. The Spanish ports of Vigo and El Ferrol were also discounted, for similar reasons while the Port of Lisbon was closed due to strike action.
With options for safe harbour vanishing, the decision was taken to proceed directly across the Bay of Biscay and head for Southampton. Upper deck facilities such as the Britannia Lounge, Grill and Lido restaurants were closed, with catering moved to the lower decks, where pitching and rolling would be less evident.
As the morning of 4 November rolled around, Spirit rounded Cape Finisterre and entered the Bay of Biscay at a speed of 14.4 knots. Tossed by the roiling sea and buffeted by heavy storm-force 10 headwinds, the job of stabilising the vessel’s pitching and rolling was proving hard work for its stabiliser fins.
At 12.30pm, a port pod water leakage stop (WLS) sequence alarm activated, and the azipod suffered an overspeed event – typical in situations where the vessel’s propeller suddenly comes up out of the water -- and activated its emergency shutdown sequence, rotating to face 90 degrees inboard to the vessel’s heading, and inflating its emergency shaft seal.
On the bridge, crew attempted to steer using the remaining starboard pod, using bow thrusters to keep the ship on course – until it, too, shut down in the same way. With no propulsion to generate flow over the stabiliser foils, the vessel was now not under command (NUC) - without propulsion, and exposed to the full force of the storm.
With no control over the vessel’s movement, the sudden propulsion stop led to widespread falls and injuries among the vessel’s pensioner passengers. Furniture and unsecured objects, dining tables and gym equipment, detached from mountings and moved freely around public spaces as the ship swayed and surged. After an initial shock of injuries at the moment propulsion was lost, injuries continued to mount, quickly overwhelming the contingent of onboard medical staff. A “Code Alpha” medical emergency was declared.
Over the next 18 hours, engineering teams worked hard to restore and maintain propulsion – but this was only possible intermittently. The pods experienced repeated overspeed shutdowns, followed by successive restarts, as they contended with rapid and fluctuating wave loading. In all, 115 passengers were injured as a result of falling or being struck by moving furniture and crockery. Among them was 85-year-old Trevor Gilks, designated in Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report as Passenger 1. During a particularly violent 10° - 13° roll, Gilks’ high wing-backed chair tipped, flinging him backwards onto his neck.
The vessel’s medical team worked continuously under pressure, treating a large number of casualties in challenging conditions. However, the scale of the incident overwhelmed available resources. The ship eventually regained more stable propulsion as weather conditions eased in the early hours of 5 November, allowing it to resume its passage to Portsmouth, where emergency services met the vessel on arrival. Trevor Gilks was rushed to hospital with a cervical spine injury, and died on 8 November 2023.
Outcomes
The decision to cross the Bay of Biscay, rather than remain at sea for longer, went unchallenged, either by crew or shore-based operational teams. A potential call at Lisbon for shelter was discounted, because a port workers’ strike might have prevented the vessel sailing. There was “no indication”, according to MAIB, that Saga was exerting commercial pressure on the Captain to push ahead to Portsmouth.
A delay of 36 hours, according to a weather data model used by MAIB in its report, might have led to a reduction in wave heights of around 40%, and a wind reduction of 3 on the Beaufort scale.
The investigation concluded that the immediate cause of the incident was a loss of propulsion (LOP) resulting from repeated overspeed shutdown events in the vessel’s propulsion pods, triggered by heavy weather that induced violent vessel motions and rapid loading and unloading of the azimuth propellers. SOLAS regulation required that Spirit of Discovery’s propulsion systems be designed to operate when the vessel was dynamically rolling up to 22.5° and pitching up to 7.5°. Evidently, this standard was not met.
Spirit had encountered a previous LOP event in February 2023.
While the Siemens Energy instruction manual warned a WLS shutdown would result in the pod automatically parking, it incorrectly stated that the shutdown would only be initiated if the Stop Prop push button was pressed – and did not explain that with the WLS sequence alarm active an overspeed trip event would also trigger the shutdown sequence.
Since the incident, Saga have taken significant action to mitigate re-occurrence. They have reinforced the mass casualty incident plan, and medical support arrangements, including better access to specialist advice and enhanced training for handling traumatic injuries.
Technical measures have focused on improving the management of propulsion systems, including updated guidance, better tracking of technical issues, and revisions to failure response procedures. Recommendations have also been made at an industry level, addressing equipment standards, medical staffing, and guidance on heavy weather operations.
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Image: Spirit of Discovery, Portsmouth
Credit: Keith Heaton / Shutterstock.com
