‘Several’ Cruise Passengers Injured After ‘Sudden, Extreme’ 115-mph Wind Causes Ship to Tilt

Passengers on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship traveling toward Florida experienced extreme wind Sunday night that caused the ship to tilt to its side, injuring some passengers.

The Norwegian Escape encountered “a sudden, extreme gust of wind” estimated at 115 miles per hour, and several passengers were injured as the ship tilted to its port side, the cruise line said in a series of tweets.

“Several injuries were reported and those guests and crew received immediate attention or are being treated by the ship’s medical staff,” Norwegian Cruise Line said on Twitter on Monday. “There was no damage to the ship; she remains fully operational and continues her scheduled itinerary.”

The ship, which holds about 4,200 passengers and 1,700 crew members, was not damaged, and it arrived at Port Canaveral, Fla. on Tuesday.

Videos captured on board the ship during the intense weather show passengers screaming and trying to steady themselves, as furniture slides across the floor and glasses crash to the ground.

Passenger Aaron Black shared a video from a piano bar on the ship, showing tables sliding across the floor, liquor bottles falling off the bar and passengers struggling to cross the room without falling. He described seeing “injuries and a lot of broken glass all around the ship.”

“I remember thinking about how calm it was for sailing out of New York in March and suddenly we got hit by a large gust of wind and the whole ship kind of just tilted to the side for about 30 seconds,” Black told CNN. “Suddenly everything around me was starting to move.”