Coral Princess

Coral Princess is a Coral-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises line. The vessel, along with sister ship Island Princess, was launched in 2002. Coral Princess and Island Princess are part of the only five Panamax ships operated by Princess Cruises.

Coral Princess in 2002
History
Name: Coral Princess
Owner: Carnival plc
Operator: Princess Cruises
Port of registry: Hamilton, Bermuda
Route: Panama Canal, Alaska
Ordered: 2000
Builder: Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Cost: US$360 million
Yard number: No.C32
Laid down: 2000
Launched: 2002
Christened: January 18, 2003 by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso
Completed: December 2002
Maiden voyage: January 3, 2003
In service: January 3, 2003
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Coral-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 91,627 GT
Length: 294 m (964 ft)
Beam: 32 m (106 ft) (waterline)
37 m (122 ft) (bridge wings)
Height: 62 m (204 ft)
Draft: 8.2 m (27 ft)
Decks: 16
Installed power: Two Wärtsilä 16V46C diesel engines
General Electric LM2500+ gas turbine
Propulsion: Combined diesel-electric and gas (CODLAG)
Two shafts; fixed pitch propellers
Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity: 1,970 passengers
Crew: 900

Route

During summer months, Coral Princess's main itinerary consists of 7-day Alaskan cruises from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Whittier, Alaska, US. During fall, winter and spring, Coral Princess runs 11-day Panama Canal partial-transit cruises with stops in Cartagena, Colombia, Colon, Panama, either Ocho Rios, Jamaica, or Grand Cayman (alternating cruises), Limon, Costa Rica, and Oranjestad, Aruba, with Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as its turnaround port.

Accidents and incidents
Coral Princess docked at Puntarenas in 2010 October.

On May 2, 2013, Coral Princess suffered a fire when some flammable material in the engineering spaces accidentally ignited in the middle of the night. It was quickly extinguished without anyone onboard being injured; however, minor amounts of smoke was detected by passengers as far up as Deck 8.

Coral Princess experienced an engine fire at approximately 2130 local time on 15 January 2020 while in the Drake Passage en route to Stanley, Falkland Islands. At the time of the fire, Coral Princess was 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) north of Elephant Island in Antarctica. The ship had just completed a two-day transit of the Antarctic Peninsula when the fire occurred and was contained by the ship's on-board fire detection system; no passengers or crew were injured.

COVID-19 pandemic
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships § Coral Princess

News reports in early April 2020 indicated that the ship, with 1,020 passengers and 878 crew, with some suffering flu-like symptoms, was hoping to be allowed to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to allow passengers to disembark. A news item on 2 April 2020 stated that "Passengers have been confined to their rooms...when the company noticed a higher than normal number of flu-like cases on board." Reports then specified that "out of 13 passengers and crew tested for COVID-19 on board the Coral Princess, 12 were positive." Officials in Broward County, Florida said that a plan was not yet in place to handle the situation. The ship had departed San Antonio, Chile on 5 March 2020, when the cruise line was still in full operation, and was not allowed to disembark passengers at Buenos Aires on 19 and 20 March. Passengers were in full lockdown as the vessel approached Florida.[1][2]

A previous ship, the Holland America Line's Zaandam, also with confirmed COVID-19 cases, had finally received permission on 2 April for most of her passengers to disembark at Port Everglades.[3]

Coral Princess was diverted and finally docked at the Port of Miami on the afternoon of 4 April with its over 1,000 passengers and 878 crew members. Reports at the time indicated that two passengers had died and some others were ill. Only the few with symptoms of respiratory illness had been tested for COVID-19 and of those, 12 had tested positive. A CNN report at 6pm on 4 April indicated that an estimated 15 persons would stay on board for medical care. Those who were not ill were to disembark when flights to their destinations were available; this was expected to take some days.[4] A subsequent report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, however, stated that four passengers were scheduled to be taken to Florida hospitals and added that 67 persons would not be allowed to disembark.[5]

By 7 April, all but 90 passengers had disembarked; many had returned to the UK, Australia, California and Canada via charter flights. As of that date, three passengers had died.[6][7]

The vessel left Port Miami on 10 April 2020 with its crew and 13 international passengers who were unable to return to their home countries due to travel restrictions. No destination was revealed but it appeared that the ship would initially remain at sea for a period of quarantine. [8]

References
  1. Thakkar, Emrys (3 April 2020). "Princess Cruise Ship With 12 COVID-19 Cases Hopes to Dock in Fort Lauderdale". Cruise Hive. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. Dolven, Taylor (2 April 2020). "Coral Princess cruise ship with 12 COVID-19 cases on board hopes to dock in Florida". Miami Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2020 – via Yahoo News.
  3. Burke, Minyvonne (2 April 2020). "Cruise ship with sick passengers and sister ship will be allowed to dock in Florida". NBC News. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. Hanna, Jason; Alonso, Melissa (4 April 2020). "Coral Princess docks in Miami with 2 dead and several ill of coronavirus, after ports shunned it for days". CNN. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. Freeman, Marc (4 April 2020). "After two deaths on board, Coral Princess cruise ship gets Miami welcome". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 5 April 2020 – via MSN News.
  6. "Coral Princess cruise passenger dies of coronavirus after disembarking delay, daughter says". MSN. USA Today. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. "Passengers on the Coral Princess still trying to get home". CNN. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. "Coral Princess departs PortMiami with 13 passengers, quarantined crew". WVSN News. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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