Yesterday (Sunday 20th May 2024), social media posts started to appear on Facebook and other platforms reporting a “total” power failure on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas cruise ship.
The Icon of the Seas is a groundbreaking cruise ship by Royal Caribbean, designed to be the largest and most innovative in the world. This ship features eight unique neighborhoods, each offering distinct experiences from water parks and pools to serene retreats.
It boasts cutting-edge sustainability features, including advanced waste management and energy efficiency technologies. Guests can enjoy a wide array of dining options, entertainment venues, and family-friendly activities, making it a perfect vacation spot for all ages.
Icon of the Seas is currently the largest ship in the World and can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, with a gross tonnage of approximately 250,800.
Social Media Reports Emerged Around 12:30pm Eastern Standard Time
Reports first started to emerge yesterday afternoon some time after 12:30pm (Eastern Standard Time).
“On Icon now – complete power failure. No lights or anything. We aren’t moving at all.”
“We are on it – Captain announced a complete engine failure. Probably lasted 35 minutes.”
“…the propellers stopped too…”
How long the outage lasted is difficult to determine – some guests said it lasted 35 minutes, while other say it was less than 8 minutes. There were also some reports of two incidents, but this may just have been due to delays between users reporting on social media.
When a ship loses full power, emergency back up lights will kick in, so unless you are in the shower room at the time, you will have some light.
However all main systems on the ship will be down, including elevators and air conditioning.
One guest reported being stuck in the elevator for about 10 minutes.
A Ship Losing Full Power Can Be A Very Dangerous Situation
Whilst most of the reports made light of the situation, stating that it was “no big deal really”, a ship without power is a ship that is temporarily out of control. And that can be a very dangerous situation.
We only need to cast our minds back to a few weeks ago and the horrifying incident and loss of life at the Francis Scott Key bridge, where it was hit by the container ship “Dali” – it is widely speculated that a power failure on the ship caused the ship to lose control and hit one of the bridges supporting columns.
Fortunately when this incident happened on Icon of the Seas, the ship was at sea, with no other structures or vessels nearby. The ship was East of the Bahamas and heading towards St Kitts when it lost power.
For the World’s largest and one of the most innovative ships at sea to suffer a power failure like this will cause some concern and embarrasment within Royal Caribbean and there will no doubt be an internal investigation onboard to establish exactly what caused the power failure.
While incidents like this are relatively rare, we are aware of two other recent power failure incidents on Royal Caribbean’s fleet.
We are also reminded of what happened when a Carnival ship lost power in the Gulf of Mexico and the horrific events that unfolded afterwards resulting in it being named as the “poop cruise from hell“.
Quantum of the Seas Also Lost Power Yesterday
By pure coincidence, Quantum of the Seas lost power yesterday as well. However, at the time, the ship was docked at Vancouver Island.
Oasis of the Seas Lost Power Earlier In May
I’ve personally experienced a power outage on a ship, just recently. We were on the Oasis of the Seas for its transatlantic crossing from Miami to Barcelona. On May 2nd, when the ship was docked in Malaga it suffered a full power outage for about 10 minutes.
We were sitting in the Royal Promenade waiting on some friends, when all the lights went out. The emergency lights literally kicked in within a second, but it was clear there was an issue.
After ten minutes power was restored and the Captain made an announcement, apologising for the incident, stating that “some times these things happen”.
At dock, this was not an issue, but all of us said that if this had happened mid-atlantic, we would have been pretty freaked out about it.
What Happens If a Ship Loses Full Power
When a ship loses full power, it is usually due to an engine failure, which in itself could be caused by other systems on the ship. The engines are responsible for propulsion of the ship, but also for providing power to electrical systems on board. Most notably a ship could lose running water and flushing toilets.
If the ship loses electrical power due to an engine failure, or cut-off, emergency generators and battery back-up systems will automatically kick in.
According to Royal Caribbean’s website their systems “can provide emergency lighting, fire detection systems, operate elevators and even provide power to re-start the engines, if necessary. They can also power communication channels – radio, telefax, email, so the ship can continue to communicate with shoreside.”
We have reached out to Royal Caribbean Press Relation for comment.
hey, so like, when a ship loses power does it just stop dead in the water or what happens? kinda scary thinkin bout being stuck like that
Actually, ships have multiple back-up systems for such situations to ensure safety. They wouldn’t just stop suddenly!
Quantum of the Seas losing power while docked, does that even count as a big problem? ain’t nothing gonna happen if it’s not moving.
So ships can lose power and all we worry bout is flushing toilets? Lol, priorities, people!