Car carrier suffers hull breach during berthing attempt at SVG cruise terminal

A foreign-flagged commercial vessel suffered a hull breach as a result of a mishap during a berthing manoeuvre at a cruise terminal in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday, November 10.

The Japanese-registered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) Splendid Ace was attempting to berth at the Kingstown Cruise Terminal (KCT) on the main island of Saint Vincent when the incident occurred on the morning (local time) of Sunday.

The breach is located just above the waterline near the bow. However, no water ingress has been reported, and the vessel was still able to safely unload its cargo at KCT later that same day.

The PCTC had attempted to berth at the cruise terminal as Kingstown's main cargo pier is temporarily unavailable due to damage it suffered after Hurricane Beryl swept through the area in early July.

Port officials said a thorough assessment of the damage will need to be completed before the ship can be safely removed from its current position. An investigation into the mishap will also be conducted.

Officials added that the incident had also ended up disrupting cruise operations at KCT.

Because Splendid Ace remains stranded at the terminal, a cruise ship that was scheduled to also arrive there on Sunday had been forced to turn away.