Norwegian Cruise Line ship hits iceberg, passenger calls it 'Titanic 2.0'
The Norwegian Sun cruise ship is docked at the Seaport in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - A Norwegian Cruise Line ship was damaged after hitting an iceberg in Alaska, forcing the remainder of the cruise to be canceled.
The Norwegian Sun was headed to the Hubbard Glacier when it struck a growler. A growler is a piece of ice that has broken off from a larger glacier or shelf ice, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They are roughly the size of a truck and are generally less than 3 feet in height above the sea surface and can occupy an area of more than 200 square feet.
One passenger told the Juneau Empire that the ship came to a complete stop from the impact.
"Then all sudden, boom, the whole ship shakes," said Benjamin Talbott, who was aboard the ship with his family. "And I'm like, 'Well, what's going on?' And then I had to start recording and I looked at the front of the ship and all I see is this an iceberg just turning over and coming down. And I was like, Oh my God, we hit an iceberg."
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A Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson told KTOO that the ship was "engulfed by dense fog, limiting visibility" that caused the strike.
"Oh my God, it’s Titanic 2.0!" Talbot could be heard saying in a video he recorded following the incident.
The Norwegian Sun sailed to Juneau to assess the damage it sustained. U.S. Coast Guard divers looked for underwater damage on the ship before it was cleared to return to Seattle for repairs. The passengers were allowed to stay on the ship for the return trip.
The Coast Guard told the paper that no injuries were reported in the incident.
Icebergs are monitored worldwide by the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC). NIC produces analyses and forecasts of Arctic, Antarctic, Great Lakes, and Chesapeake Bay ice conditions.