BREMERHAVEN, GERMANY — What was supposed to be a dream 20-night voyage to the sun-soaked Canary Islands turned into a nightmare in German waters on Sunday evening when a massive cruise liner collided with a berthed container ship amid severe weather.
The incident unfolded at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time as the Mein Schiff 3, a vessel operated by TUI Cruises carrying 2,428 passengers and 922 crew members, prepared to depart from the Columbuskaje terminal in Bremerhaven.
As the cruise ship maneuvered away from the pier into the narrow waterway, violent wind gusts battered the vessel. Despite the assistance of multiple harbor tugboats attempting to hold the liner on course, strong winds relentlessly pushed the 99,000-ton Mein Schiff 3 toward the container terminal. Witnesses on shore described watching the cruise ship struggle against the gale before drifting dangerously close to moored cargo vessels. Within minutes, the starboard side of the liner struck the MSC Victorine, a large container ship docked along the quay.
"The tugs did everything they could to hold her, but the wind was relentless. You could see the two behemoths coming together, and then came the sound of tearing metal."— Onshore witness, Bremerhaven Port
Video footage captured by passengers and port onlookers shows the force of the collision ripping open sections of the container ship's hull while crushing lifeboats and launching equipment along the side of the Mein Schiff 3. Assisting tugboats had to pull back sharply to avoid being crushed between the two massive hulls.
Despite the violent impact and extensive damage to both vessels, German port authorities confirmed that no water ingress occurred below the waterline. In what officials are calling a miracle, no injuries were reported among the 3,350 people aboard the cruise ship or the crew of the cargo vessel.
Tugboats guided the damaged Mein Schiff 3 back to her berth at Columbuskaje, where maritime inspectors and port authorities boarded to assess the structural integrity. Following an initial safety evaluation, TUI Cruises officially canceled the remainder of the scheduled trip to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco to allow for urgent shipyard repairs.
Bremen’s water police have launched an investigation into the cause of the collision, examining whether wind conditions exceeded operational thresholds or if mechanical issues contributed to the loss of control.
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