Norwegian Dawn Cleared to Leave Bermuda

Norwegian Cruise Line’s cruise ship Norwegian Dawn was cleared to depart Bermuda after inspections showed that vessel suffered no structural damage in the grounding this Tuesday.

According to an official statement issued by the Miami-based cruise operator, the ship ”had a temporary malfunction of its steering system, causing the ship to sail slightly off course as the ship was departing Bermuda, resulting in the vessel making contact with the sea bed.”

The ship was refloated with high-tide on Tuesday evening and it docked alongside at Heritage Wharf Wednesday morning, local time.

Norwegian’s officers, engineers and lead technical teams, along with DNV GL inspectors, representing the ship’s classification society, and a team of independent divers confirmed the structural integrity of the ship and the technical issue which caused the steering malfunction was identified and corrected.

NCL said it expected the ship to be cleared to depart Bermuda at 3 pm local time Wednesday, and resume sailing to Boston, where it should arrive on Friday.

The ship is sailing on a seven-night Boston to Bermuda cruise with 2,443 passengers and 1,059 crew.