The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas struck a Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal mooring dolphin on May 9 as it was preparing to dock, limiting the facility to one berth instead of two until repairs are completed in a few weeks, terminal manager Chris McGraw said.
There was no apparent damage to the 961-foot ship and no reported injuries in the mishap.
A dolphin is a collection of steel pilings driven into the ocean floor and used for mooring a ship at a dock.
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 are estimated at 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,” McGraw said. “We can’t accommodate any ships on the inside berth until it’s repaired.”
McGraw has notified Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska and is waiting to hear back on how the loss of docking space will affect the schedule of cruise ships in Sitka. He is also communicating with Royal Caribbean International, the owner of the vessel, about damages.
Without the second berth, a few ships will need to anchor offshore and lighter passengers into a smaller dock. There are four two-ship days on Sitka’s schedule through the first week of June.
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