A TUI Cruises ship, the Mein Schiff 3, collided with two cargo vessels while leaving the port of Bremerhaven on Sunday during stormy weather, forcing the company to cancel the planned voyage to the Canary Islands.
TUI Cruises confirmed the collision to Fox News Digital and said no passengers were injured. The ship returned to Columbus Quay after the incident.
Bremen Police reported the collision on Sunday evening, stating that the cruise ship struck two container ships amid stormy conditions before heading back to dock. A translated police statement said, “According to current knowledge, no one was injured in the collision. Information on the exact extent of the damage and the cause of the accident is not yet conclusively available.”
Technical teams and experts inspected the Mein Schiff 3 shortly after the collision and determined it would need repairs at a shipyard, a TUI Cruises official said.
“As a result, we have decided to cancel the planned cruise to the Canary Islands. We very much regret having to take this step,” a TUI Cruises spokesperson said.
Bremen Police said they are investigating the collision, and German broadcaster NDR reported that police have also opened an administrative offense investigation into the captain of the Mein Schiff 3.
Footage shared on Reddit appeared to show the moment of impact from aboard the ship, with at least one person shouting as the vessel scraped against a cargo ship and damaged lifeboats along its side.
One Reddit user claimed to have been on a different cruise ship in Bremerhaven that was due to depart shortly after the Mein Schiff 3. That user wrote that the port was announced closed shortly before their ship was set to leave because of high winds, and that their vessel was diverted from a planned Hamburg stop due to the weather. The same user said they could see the Mein Schiff 3 docked back in port from their ship’s bridge camera, though the extent of the damage was not visible.
TUI Cruises said the safety of passengers and crew remains its top priority.
“We believe this is the only responsible decision and the right course of action to maintain our high safety standards,” the spokesperson said. “Our focus now is on keeping our guests fully informed, supporting them and assisting them with the next steps.”
The cancellation adds to a string of recent cruise disruptions, including a Royal Caribbean Alaska voyage cancelled earlier this year over technical problems and a small cruise ship running aground on a reef near Fiji this spring.
