Two crew members died on board a Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship in the Bahamas over the weekend.
The men were in the engine room of the Florida-based ship Nieuw Amsterdam, anchored at private resort island Half Moon Cay, when there was an “accidental steam release”.
While officials provided limited details, one maritime lawyer said the men — whose bodies were found close to the engine room’s hydraulic doors — had been trapped and suffocated in sweltering temperatures.
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“There was an accidental steam release in an engineering space on board Nieuw Amsterdam, which sadly resulted in the death of two crew members,” HAL said on Sunday.
“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this event.
“We’ve been in contact with the families of both team members and are offering our support to them and to all of our crew at this difficult time.”
The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board were investigating the cause of the release, Holland America said.
The cruise line said the conclusions of any investigation would be taken seriously.
“Safety is always our top priority and we are working to understand what, if anything, can be learned from this tragic accident,” it said.
‘They were trapped’
Walker & O’Neil Maritime Lawyers’ Jim Walker said he spoke to ship employees, who wish to remain anonymous, about what happened inside the engine room.
He named the officially unidentified crew members as Joseph Terrado, a third engineer, and Wawan Gusnawan, who was employed as a wiper.
“(Terrado and Gusnawan) were reportedly installing filters when a steam compensator, unrelated to their duties, exploded,” Walker said.
“The explosion released steam into the engine room.”
According to Walker’s reports, an alarm was triggered and doors were closed as ventilation to the space was shut down before it was evacuated.
“The two crew members, who were not equipped with emergency escape breathing devices (EEBD), were unable to manually open the closed, heavy hydraulic doors. They were trapped in the space,” Walker said.
Walker said the men suffocated due to a lack of oxygen and 180C steam filling the room.
“Their bodies were located near the closed watertight doors,” he said.
Captain’s emotional announcement
Passenger Laine Doss said she was on board when the captain announced the deaths over the PA system.
“We were celebrating the last day of the cruise” when the mood changed “to something extremely sombre”, she said.
The captain’s voice broke, she said.
“He broke down crying,” Doss said.
“There was a moment of silence that the captain requested. And that entire scenario did affect the entire cruise.
“Things were cancelled, joyous events were cancelled, and we really just thought about mortality — the people who perished on the ship.”
Crew members were being offered counselling, Holland America said.
Dutch government inspectors determined the vessel to be “fully operable,” and this was “confirmed” by the US Coast Guard, the cruise line said.
However a US Coast Guard spokesperson said she was looking into that statement and was unable to immediately confirm it.
The Nieuw Amsterdam returned Saturday to its home port of Fort Lauderdale where guests disembarked, and the vessel has since embarked on a new cruise with a stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on Monday, Holland America said.
— With Dennis Romero and Marissa Parra, NBC
