# P&O Pacific Star



## raybnz (Sep 10, 2005)

I found this story in the NZ Herald today (July 16th)

Must have been a bit rough for the poor passengers.

Hundreds stranded by storm-damaged cruise ship
5:00AM Monday July 16, 2007
By Errol Kiong 
The Pacific Star's bow was damaged by the 10m waves. Photo / Andrew Read

The Pacific Star's bow was damaged by the 10m waves. Photo / Andrew Read

Hundreds of New Zealanders on a "holiday from hell" have been forced to wait for flights out of Vanuatu because their storm-damaged cruise ship will not return to Auckland.

The 1200 passengers on P&O's Pacific Star are still in Vila, after the liner sailed through gale-force winds and swells of up to 10m shortly after leaving Auckland on Tuesday.

During the storm 50-knot winds, with gusts up to 70 knots, damaged the ship's bow and some of its windows and external doors, as well as satellite equipment.

P&O spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said the bow was being repaired in Vila, before the ship sailed to Brisbane, without passengers, for a thorough inspection.

"The ship can sail, but we want to inspect it thoroughly, so we are taking it to Brisbane."

She could not estimate the cost to repair the damage. "We have not even looked at that yet. At this stage we are focused on the passengers."

With commercial flights heavily booked out due to the holidays, and a local sporting event, P&O had booked charter flights from Vanuatu, Noumea and Fiji.

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"The passengers will leave on charter flights over the next few days," Ms Olsen said.

Asked if passengers had complained about what had happened, she said they had been "very patient".

Passengers became so ill during last week's storm that they were given free doctors' visits and $100 vouchers.

Some are now questioning whether the ship should have set off in the first place. Auckland man Ian Trezise - whose wife Jill, stepdaughters Brooke Atkinson and Ellen Walker and sister-in-law Robin Casserly were on board - last night wanted to know who made the call to go ahead.

"Who makes the decision to cruise the boat through that bloody storm that everyone knew was coming ... when there was absolutely nowhere to go for shelter?

"You can sort of imagine the pressures that might have been brought to bear on a ship's captain to keep the cruise cruising, but look at what happened. It's a disaster.

"I've only spoken briefly to my wife and had a couple of emails, but they were a bit horrified by the weather."

One passenger said the dream trip to Vanuatu had started like the holiday from hell.

Conditions were so bad the ship had to cancel a planned stopover in Lifou, New Caledonia, instead heading straight for Vila for its scheduled Friday night stopover.

The company yesterday announced it was cancelling the rest of the cruise so that the Pacific Star could go in to drydock in Brisbane for a thorough inspection. It had been scheduled to return to Auckland on Wednesday.

MetService duty forecaster Allister Gorman said the first official warning of "storm-force winds" - winds over 50 knots - was issued on Monday at 11am.

"It'd only be a few times a year that we'd actually have to issue a warning of this type of strength for the Hauraki Gulf area."

Ms Olsen said while it might have been uncomfortable, at no time were passengers in danger. Captain Ivan Jerman had more than 35 years' experience at sea, she said.

"The safety and the comfort of passengers would always be the captain's first priority. And the captain would not have departed Auckland if he had any concern whatsoever. The weather, it would seem, took a turn for the worse in quite a short space of time on the Tuesday."

Ms Olsen said the ship had sought shelter behind Great Barrier Island initially, but because of the intensity of the storm had headed out to sea.

"In these sorts of cir***stances apparently it's often safer to head to sea and you can ride the waves rather than be buffeted closer to the shore. And he slowed the ship down and he took the course of least resistance."

Auckland Regional Council harbourmaster John Lee Richards said last night he couldn't comment on whether the ship's captain made the right decision to sail, or to take shelter behind land.

He said the ship left the port about 4 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon in winds of about 20-25 knots. The port was closed about two hours later when winds reached 40 knots.

Mr Trezise hopes his wife will be home in time for her father's 80th birthday on Thursday.

"It is not something that we want to miss. We're pretty keen to get her back before then.

"They're not shipbound, they can no doubt take tours and make the most of whatever time they've got there, but I think the uncertainty of what's happening takes the edge off the enjoyment," Mr Mr Trezise said.

P&O said passengers will be given a full refund, as well as a 25 per cent credit on their next cruise.

They were also offered a complimentary phone call or internet time to contact family as a result of the cancellation.

The company is still assessing how long it will take to repair the ship. It will contact passengers if future cruises are in jeopardy.


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## Rutts (Jun 28, 2005)

I have to query the 20-25 knot winds the ship was said to have encountered on departure. Local ferry services to Waiheke, Half Moon Bay and Gulf Harbour had all been cancelled prior to 1600 due to the weather.
The ferry service I use was only operating as far as Northcote, with Birkenhead closed due to the conditions. Both container terminals (Fergusson and Bledisloe) had closed earlier on that afternoon as it was not safe to operate in due to high winds. 
In photo #012 looking down the harbour Pacific Star would have been sailing round North Head at that stage.

Also attached is a photo of the vessels damaged bow.


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## Porky (Sep 30, 2005)

It was on our TV news last night.

It was a ship, it hit bad weather, and it rolled a bit. Then the passengers got scared. 

A bit of research on the passengers part before the joined up would have been good. All they saw was the ads, blue seas, suning on a crystal pool, food aplenty. 

Obviously the shipping companies don't advertise the bad weather, the sea sickness, or the occassional sinking, but ships can be dangerous and occasional bad things happen. But there is information out there, look in the galleries in NM, sinkings, fires, and rougher weather than this ship proably encountered. 

The passengers experienced nothing more than vast majority of us on this forum used to or still experience, don't complain enjoy it because it's what the sea is about. In fact if I was P&O I'd have charged them extra, rather than give them a refund.


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## Pompeyfan (Aug 9, 2005)

Porky

I totally agree with you. I have said the same for years, and going on cruises over the past couple of years or so has convinced me further that the modern day cruising passenger not only has no idea about life aboard a ship, but no idea that the seas can become rough and the ship roll.

Going out to Australia on Oriana this year surprised even me how clueless some passengers were when the ship rolled a bit. They did not expect it from such a large ship. How dare their holiday centre roll. "We were not told about this they said". I even heard one complaining to Reception!.

Also of course, these cruise ships are not built to encounter seas like the Pacific Star encountered. You only have to look at her bow to see she is not so sturdy or designed like the purpose built ocean going passenger liners I worked on.

I have been in far stronger winds and those reported aboard Pacific Star when I worked on the old Arcadia(1954)smaller than Pacific Star but far sturdier, built to cope with just about anything. We were once in a force 12 between Vancouver and Honolulu, constant winds far in excess than even the gusts reported aboard Pacific Star. The passenger deck below my Hospital Deck was under water, and waves coming over the bridge. Yet the ship suffered no damage at all except for broken china etc, and a few broken bones, mainly wrists. This was in winter, nothing unusual for the time of year. We also hit the tail end of the Cyclone Tracey aboard Arcadia that destroyed Darwin in 1974. It was a bit choppy then?!!. Far rougher I would imagine that conditions suffered by Pacific Star. But one again Arcadia ploughed through it like the grand old lady she was with no structural damage.

Like Porky says, the vast majority of us on this forum used to, or still do experience conditions that the Pacific Star encountered all the time. Not aboard floating hotels poorly designed for such conditions, but working ships, carrying their cargo around the world. They don't sail in calmer waters so as not to upset passengers, but keep going in all weathers making sure we have the goods we need and having to keep to timetables for the company they are employed by no doubt?. Some cruise passengers sadly do not have a clue of what real sea life is all about. Yes, even cargo ships have to heave to from time to time for the safety of the ship and crew, but not in the conditions Pacific Star encountered I would have thought?. 

Modern and old is in evidence here on the island. The FastCats stop running in rough weather, but the old ferries kept going in all weathers. David


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## tripleexpansion (Jul 19, 2007)

*Pacific Star is a good ship but why did they change the design of the stern?*

I sailed on the Pacific Star in July 2006 and found it to be an okay seagoing Ship, but she is 25 years old. 

I also noticed that they changed the stern, when her ownership changed to P&O Australia in Palermo During a multi-million-dollar refit,prior to her relocation to the South Pacific. From looking at previous photographs, the stern was more of a cruiser type, and you can see the welding marks where they have squared it off.

Does anybody know why they would have done this? They showed a video of what they did to the stern, briefly during a video on the in-house TV system, describing the ships amenities.

I've booked to go again, on the ship in November of this year for a three-week holiday leaving on November the 18th sailing from Auckland to Hobart, and then right up the east coast of Australia. 

what is the weather usually like in these parts. At that time of year?

I used to live and work on a tugboat, so I am used to fairly rough conditions, but had an accident a couple of years ago, which has left me wheelchair-bound.

hopefully everything should be sweet, and it will be like last time but if it cuts up rough, then I can always retire to my cabin and lie on the floor on a mattress and take some sleeping pills to pass the time until the weather clears(A)


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## Geoff Garrett (May 2, 2006)

Forget the sleeping pills 3xEx, have a couple of large brandy and sodas instead.


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## Rutts (Jun 28, 2005)

The ship returns to service in Brisbane tomorrow with the departure of her next cruise. In order to give the vessel an additional two days in the dry dock the decision was made to fly the passengers (1200 of them) to Brisbane to join the vessel. The cruise will terminate in Auckland as scheduled next month. The vessel has been repaired but upto 20 windows have been boarded up until the replacement glass arrives.


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## JoK (Nov 12, 2006)

You know I always think of the crew who has to clean the vomit up and the engineering staff who have to clear the vacuusan toilets out after after bad weather, on a ferry/passenger ship.(EEK)


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## Rutts (Jun 28, 2005)

*More bad news this week concering Pacific Star.*

The Pacific Star arrived in Auckland on Tuesday this week marking the end of one cruise and the commencement of another one. Instead of sailing
on Tuesday afternoon she was still in Auckland on Thursday morning due to
problems with a ventilation duct by which time the cruise had been cancelled.
She sailed for Brisbane around 1400 on Thursday without passengers.

Stories below:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=61&objectid=10456687

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10456894

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10456748


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## beejay (Apr 4, 2005)

My next door neighbour was booked on the cancelled cruise and he was not very impressed with P&O. After travelling from Wellington to Auckland just to spend two days tied up along side before being informed that the cruise was cancelled.

Brian


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## Tony Breach (Jun 15, 2005)

I would suggest that anyone intending to take a cruise check the vessel concerned on the cruisejunkie website. It may appear to be a bit sensational but it is basically correct as long as one doesn't take too much notice of individual passenger gripes.

Tony.


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