E PLURIBUS UNUM

NATIONAL TRA S PORTATIO

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B OAR D

SAFE T Y

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National Transportation Safety Board 

Washington, D.C. 20594 

Marine Accident Brief

Accident No.: DCA-05-MM-018 

Vessel: Bahamas-flag passenger vessel Norwegian Dawn, IMO 

No. 9195169, 965 feet long, 105 feet wide, 92,250 gross tons, 

draft 27 feet, built in 2002 

Accident Type: Heavy-weather damage 

Location: Atlantic Ocean, 120 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina 

(latitude 32o28.6¥ N, longitude 76o57.0¥ W) 

Date: April 16, 2005 

Time: 0615 eastern daylight time 

Owner: Norwegian Cruise Line, Miami, Florida 

Property Damage: $750,000 

Injuries: Passengers 4 (required medical attention) 

Complement: Crew 1,159 

Passengers 2,590 

Incident 

On April 16, 2005, the Bahamas-registered passenger vessel Norwegian Dawn 

suffered heavy-weather damage while returning to New York on the last leg of a regularly 

scheduled roundtrip cruise between New York and Miami, Florida, with stops in Port 

Canaveral, Florida, and the Bahamas (figure 1). The ship, operated by Norwegian Cruise 

Line of Miami, offers a variety of entertainment for passengers, including an onboard 

casino. Passengers, primarily U.S. citizens, embark on the trips in New York. 

The Norwegian Dawn began the voyage in New York on Sunday, April 10, 2005. 

Before departure, the port call in Nassau, Bahamas, was canceled for business reasons. 

The vessel docked in Miami on Thursday, April 14. At 00561 on Friday, April 15, the 

vessel departed Miami on the return trip to New York. The voyage plan estimated the 

total trip distance as 1,020 miles. The maximum service speed of the ship is 25 knots.2

The vessel was expected to arrive at the New York pilot station at 0016 on Sunday, April 

17. 

 1

 Times are eastern daylight time, based on a 24-hour clock. 

2

 Norwegian Cruise Line website <http://www.ncl.com/fleet/03/deckplans.htm>. 

NTSB/MAB-05/03
Figure 1. The Norwegian Dawn encountered heavy weather off the coast of South Carolina, in 

the area shown by an X, during its return trip from Miami to New York. 

Weather. The crew received weather forecasts from the National Weather Service 

that predicted storm and gale conditions for the vesselís intended path from Miami to 

New York, with wind speeds from the north at up to 40 knots and waves between 14 and 

28 feet high. Higher waves were predicted along the main axis of the Gulf Stream. On the 

afternoon of April 15, the Norwegian Dawnís master moved the shipís route farther 

offshore to avoid the predicted weather conditions. According to the vesselís chief 

engineer and the hotel director, the master notified the crew and passengers at 1000 on 

April 15 that rough weather was forecast. Deck log entries indicate that such notification 

was given throughout the day. 

2 NTSB/MAB-05/03
The United States Coast Pilot describes the seasonal weather for the coasts of 

South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida as follows:3

 

The occasional winter storm results in strong winds and rough seas from October 

through April. Waves of 8 feet (2.4 m) or more are reported about 20 to 30 

percent of the time in deep water, but gales occur less than 1 percent of the time. 

However, winds of 40 to 50 knots have been recorded in all of these months. 

At 1400 on April 15, the Norwegian Dawn was averaging 20.6 knots over the 

ground on a northeasterly course. The ship slowed its speed over the next 6 hours, and a 

log entry noted that the shipís course was changing due to heavy weather. At 1700, in 

preparation for the predicted conditions, the crew completed the heavy-weather checklist, 

which included closing outside areas on decks 7 and 8. The crew reported that the ship 

slowed and headed into the wind and seas to reduce rolling. 

At 2000 on April 15, the watch officer noted winds from the north-northwest. The 

shipís navigation data show that the vesselís speed over the ground was 15.7 knots. 

According to the chief engineer and the engine log, the shipís propulsion tripped briefly 

around 2015 when the propellers on the propulsion drives came out of the water as the 

ship pitched.4 The master told the Safety Board that he believed some damage to the 

stern navigation light platform, aft radar, and forward crew hot tubs occurred around this 

time. According to log entries, at 2040 the master made another announcement over the 

public address system to update passengers on the weather and give safety precautions, in 

accordance with normal procedures for such conditions. 

Throughout the evening and early morning hours of April 15 and 16, the weather 

conditions deteriorated, causing the master to operate the vessel at reduced speed and use 

manual steering instead of the autopilot. According to the shipís radar log, the master 

contacted the U.S. Coast Guard at Portsmouth, Virginia, three times to report the weather 

conditions and the vesselís status. The casino closed at 0200 on April 16 because of the 

rough weather. 

Damage. At 0610 on April 16, the ship was making 7 knots over the ground. The 

wind and sea conditions had eased slightly, according to shipís officers and log entries. 

However, the watch officer on the bridge observed the vessel pitching and saw the bow 

start to plow into the seas. The master, who had been on the bridge throughout the night, 

told investigators that he felt the ship pitch three times in succession. The watch officer 

stated that all the waves were very large, and that all were roughly the same height. On 

the third wave, he said, the shipís bow took heavy green seas, which at 0615 cascaded 

directly over the bow and struck the forward part of the vesselís superstructure. 

 3

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, United States Coast 

Pilot, vol. 4 (Atlantic Coast: Cape Henry, Virginia, to Key West, Florida), 2004, p. 369. 4

 The Norwegian Dawn is propelled by electric motors. To prevent overspeed damage, the motors will 

stop, or ìtrip,î if their speed exceeds a certain number of revolutions per minute (rpms). When a propeller 

comes out of the water, it allows the motor to run without resistance and thus exceed its rpm limits. 

3 NTSB/MAB-05/03
The seas damaged one cabin on deck 9 and one cabin above it on deck 10 (figure 

2). The cabins face forward and have balconies overlooking the bow area. The balconies 

have a teak rail supported by welded aluminum vertical supports mounted on top of a low 

steel bulwark. The aluminum rail supports failed, and the teak handrails shattered the 

fixed stateroom windows. The broken glass blocked the drains on the weather side of the 

windows so the water could not escape. Seawater was then trapped between the steel 

bulwark and the aft interior cabin bulkheads. At least 1 foot of seawater entered the 

cabins and traveled under the cabin doors into the corridors. Both cabins sustained severe 

water damage to the windows, bulkheads, fixtures, and carpeting. 

Injuries. A crewmember saw an injured passenger in the passageway outside a 

damaged cabin and went to inform the watch officers on the bridge. Two passengers in 

the damaged cabin on deck 9 received lacerations and two passengers in the damaged 

cabin on deck 10 received bruises. The watch officer informed the crew of the medical 

situation, and the shipís doctors and nurses took the injured passengers to the medical 

facilities for treatment. The crew responded to the passenger injuries in a timely and 

appropriate manner. 

Course Diversion. After receiving word of passenger injuries and damage, the 

master turned the ship to the southwest and put the seas and swells aft and to the right 

side, or ìstarboard quarter,î to ease the pitching, which the vesselís stabilizers5 could not 

compensate for. This maneuver required putting the weather on the vesselís right side, or 

ìstarboard beam.î The master stated that turning to a different heading was necessary to 

improve the shipís pitch and roll. 

According to the shipís log, the master called the Coast Guard at 0815 and 

reported the incident. The master then contacted Norwegian Cruise Line to arrange for a 

suitable diversion port to make repairs, because many cabins were uninhabitable. At 

noon, the company arranged clearance for the ship to enter the Port of Charleston, South 

Carolina. 

Damage Survey. The Norwegian Dawn arrived in Charleston at 1608 on April 

16. The Coast Guard and Det Norske Veritas, the shipís classification society, boarded 

and inspected the vessel. In addition to the damage to the two cabins, the Det Norske 

Veritas survey showed damage to the deck supports under the spare anchor, on the 

starboard side of the bow.6

 An outside firehose station on the forward superstructure was 

destroyed. One forward-facing window frame in the pilothouse was knocked out of 

alignment. The watertight door to the open bow area on the foredeck was also damaged. 

Sixty-three cabins on the forward parts of decks 9 and 10 were flooded with an inch of 

seawater that had spread from the two cabins with broken windows, requiring the carpets 

and associated fixtures to be replaced. Temporary repairs were made by welding steel 

plates over the damaged windows. 

 5

 Stabilizers reduce rolling, the most common cause of passenger discomfort, but they have virtually no 

effect on a shipís pitching motion. 6

 ìTemporary Repairs After Heavy Weather Damage,î Survey Report (preliminary) by Det Norske 

Veritas at Charleston, South Carolina, April 16, 2005. 

4 NTSB/MAB-05/03
Figure 2. Circles in upper photo indicate damaged areas on Norwegian Dawnófrom left to right, 

foredeck (crew hot tubs, deck supports under anchor, firehose support, watertight door), two 

cabins overlooking bow, pilothouse window frame, and stern navigation light platform. Lower left 

photo shows outside of damaged cabin before its window was broken by waves during heavy 

seas. Lower right photo shows missing rail supports on balcony of damaged cabin. 

Return to New York. About 500 passengers disembarked in Charleston, and the 

Norwegian Dawn resumed the trip to New York at 0300 on April 17. The four injured 

passengers chose to remain on board. The ship arrived in New York at 1000 on April 18. 

5 NTSB/MAB-05/03
Investigation 

After examining the Norwegian Dawn in Charleston and monitoring the 

temporary repairs, Coast Guard investigators reboarded the vessel when it landed in New 

York on April 18 to continue their inquiry. The Norwegian Dawn then embarked on 

another cruise. When the vessel reached its first scheduled stop in Port Canaveral, 

Florida, the investigation resumed, with the Bahamian Maritime Authority as the lead 

investigative agency. One investigator from National Transportation Safety Board 

headquarters in Washington, D.C., traveled to Port Canaveral to join the investigation, 

along with two investigators from the Coast Guard marine safety office in Jacksonville, 

Florida, who conducted an informal investigation. The investigators completed their work 

on April 20. 

Discussion 

The Norwegian Dawn was on a scheduled run from Florida to New York in April. 

The weather forecast for the mid-Atlantic coast was within seasonal expectations. A brief 

encounter with gale-force winds or sea conditions aboard a 965-foot passenger ship, 

while uncomfortable for the passengers, is not unexpected while transiting seas off the 

southeast coast of the United States at that time of year. 

Although the forecast weather conditions did not appear to pose a safety hazard 

for the ship, the master made a course adjustment to avoid the main axis of the Gulf 

Stream for a more comfortable ride. When the vessel encountered heavier-than-expected 

wind and seas, the shipís officers maintained its heading into the wind and seas to 

minimize rolling, and also reduced the vesselís speed. 

After attempting to minimize the shipís exposure to the forecast conditions, the 

master changed his itinerary and slowed the vessel. Rather than attempting to maintain 

the scheduled arrival time in New York, the master decided to lower the shipís speed and 

change its heading for the passengersí comfort. 

According to statements of the chief engineer and the hotel director, the crew 

secured gear, closed off outer decks, and properly prepared the vessel for heavy weather, 

while making advisory announcements to the passengers. The hotel staff tried to 

accommodate the passengersí needs and make them comfortable. To see water flowing on 

the upper decks naturally caused concern among the passengers, but at no time did the 

damage pose a serious safety hazard to the ship. 

The prevailing wind and sea conditions caused the vessel to pitch and seas to 

break over the bow. The localized area of damage on the Norwegian Dawn was consistent 

with waves striking the shipís superstructure. The water exerted enough force to shear off 

the welds for the aluminum rail supports on the balconies of two cabins, allowing the teak 

balcony rails to break loose and crash into the cabin windows. The broken glass filling 

the drains compounded the water damage by allowing a large amount of water to enter 

6 NTSB/MAB-05/03
the two cabins and damage the carpets in 61 other cabins. The shipís operating at reduced 

speed when the waves hit probably limited the damage. 

Probable Cause 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of 

the damage to the Norwegian Dawn and of the injuries suffered by its passengers was 

waves breaking over the bow during the shipís unavoidable encounter with severe 

weather and heavy seas. 

Adopted: November 30, 2005 

7 NTSB/MAB-05/03